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AN AVIATOR'S 
FIELD BOOK 



AN AVIATOR'S 
FIELD BOOK 

Being the Field Reports of Oswald Bolche, 
from August Jf, 19H, to October 28, 1916 



Translated from the Germak by 

ROBERT REYNOLD HIRSCH, M.E, 

With a Foreword by 

JOSEPH E. RIDDER, M.E. 




1917 
NATIONAL MILITARY PUBLISHING CO. 

1919 BROADWAY, NEW YORK 



Copyright, 19iV, by 
JAMES L. PEBKINS 



1> 



TRANSFERRED FROM 
COPYRIGHT OrFiOt 

AfX iS 1918 



<MN 21 !9i8 \ 



O' 



PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. 



SCHLDBTER PTG. CO. NEW YORK 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword 9 

Introduction 17 

From the Beginning of the War 

to the First Victory ... 31 

Pilot of a Battleplane .... 59 

Leave of Absence 131 

To the Fortieth Victory ... 181 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

TACINO 
PAOB 

Colonel Oswald Bolcke's Last Pic- 
ture . . . Frontispiece 

After His First Victory . . . 32 

The Enemy 's Aeroplane in Ruins 33 

The Master-Flier and His Men . 64' 

Bolcke and His Brother Wil- 
helm, September, 1914 . .65 

Donning His Flying Dress . . 96 

An Aviator Bombarded with 

Shrapnel 97 

Among His Comrades . . . 144 

German Marine Aviators on a 
Field Near the North Sea . 145 

7 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

TACING 
PAGE 

Eeady for the Start .... 160^ ^ 

Bolc£e and His Brother Max in ) 

Prance (August, 1916) . . 161^ ' 

One of His Last Victims . . . 182'^ 

Starting on His Last Eide, Octo- i 

ber 28. 1916—5 p. m. . . . 183 ^ i 



8 



FOREWORD 



9 



FOREWORD 

By Joseph E. Bidder 

An unassuming book, still one of 
those which grip the reader from be- 
ginning to end. When the author 
started to write his daily impressions 
and adventures, it was to keep in 
touch with his people, to quiet those 
who feared for his safety every mo- 
ment, and at the same time to give 
them a clear idea of his life. Without 
boasting, modestly and naturally, he 
describes the adventures of an aviator 
in the great World War. It could 
well serve as a guide to those who are 
studying aviation. Although he Has 
avoided the stilted tone of the school- 
master, still his accomplishments as a 
11 



FOREWORD 

knight of the air must fascinate any 
who know aviation. For the aviators 
as well as their machines have accom- 
plished wonders. They are rightly 
called the eyes of the army — ^these 
iron-nerved boys who know no fear. 
Admiral Schley's historic words after 
the battle of Santiago : ''There will be 
honor enough for us alP' can well be 
said of the aviators of all nations now 
at war. For in spite of all enmity the 
aviators have followed the knightly 
code of old which respects a good op- 
ponent and honors him. Captain 
Bolcke's death, after his meteoric ca- 
reer, was mourned alike by friend and 
foe. Great as is the damage done by 
this war, horrible as is its devastation, 
it has acted as a tonic on aviation. 
Before the war, of course, there had 



FOREWORD 

been some achievements of note. 
Since the day when the Wright 
brothers announced their conquest of 
the air, man did not rest till the prob- 
lem was completely solved. And this 
war, which continually has spurred 
man to new murderous inventions, 
has also seen the airplane in action. 
While at the start of the war the com- 
paratively few airplanes in use were 
employed as scouts, a few months saw 
them fitted with machine guns and 
devices for dropping explosives. 
Hand in hand with this came the 
rapid development of the airplane 
itself. To-day we can truthfully say 
that a journey, even a long one, by 
airplane is less dangerous than an 
automobile ride through a densely 
populated district. But one thing we 



FOREWORD 

must not forget, even though the in- 
vention of the airplane by the 
Wrights is an American one (in spite 
of the fact that the Wrights give some 
credit to the German Lilienthal) 
the Europeans have far outstripped 
us in the development of this inven- 
tion. As sad as it is to say it, we must 
admit that in regard to aviation 
America is still in its infancy. Every 
European nation has outdone us. 
When, in the summer of 1916, we sent 
our troops to Mexico, they had only 
six old machines at their disposal. 
Instead of relying on these for infor- 
mation, General Pershing had noth- 
ing but anxiety for their safety every 
time they made a flight. But here, too, 
if all signs are not deceiving, war has 
helped us to awake. Aside from the 
U 



FOREWORD 

activity in our training-schools where 
thousands of our young men, sur- 
passed by none anywhere, are being 
trained, the building of our airplanes 
is taking a great step forward. The 
experience gained on the other side is 
helping us here. At first it was the 
automobile factory that furnished the 
satisfactory motor. But now through 
the war the airplane factories have 
made enormous progress and helped 
the aviator to attain new marks in 
speed, reliability and endurance. 
While this war lasts every improve- 
ment in the airplane is utilized to 
make added destruction. Yet we can 
not doubt that after the war we will 
see further progress made in the air- 
plane in the peaceful contests which 
are to follow. 

16 



INTRODUCTION 



17 



INTRODUCTION 

By Peof. Hermann Bolcke^, Dessau 

Oswald Bolcke was born on the 
19th of May, 1891, in Giebichenstein, 
a suburb of Halle on the Saale. Here 
his father was professor in the high 
school. His sister, Luise, and his two 
brothers, Wilhelm and Heinrich, 
were born before him in Buenos 
Ayres, Argentina. There his father 
had had his first position — rector of 
the German Lutheran School. Later, 
Oswald's brother Martin was born 
in Halle and his brother Max in Des- 
sau. Oswald was the first child born 
to the Bolcke 's in Germany. On the 
17th of July, the wedding-day an- 
niversary of his parents, he was bap- 
19 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

tized by Ms uncle, the Rev. Edmund 
Hartung. This occurred during a 
vacation spent at his grandmother's, 
at Freyburg-on-the-Unstrut, in the 
same church in which his mother 
J^ad been baptized, confirmed and 
married, by the same minister. After 
a year the family moved to Halle, 
where he could romp joyously on the 
Viktoria-platz with his two older 
brothers and his sister. 

At the age of four and a half years 
he moved to Dessau, in 1895, where 
his father had received a position as 
professor in the Antoinette School, 
connected with a teachers' seminary. 
He had another year and a half of 
joyous play in this city. Then he 
was sent to school, and he owed his 
education to the Friedrichs gymnasi- 
20 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

um at Dessau, from which he grad- 
uated in the Easter of 1911. When 
he was three years old he had had a 
severe attack of whooping-cough. 
This had left a strong tendency to 
asthma, and was the cause of much 
trouble at school through illness. In 
fact, it was a weakness that plagued 
him with continual colds even to the 
last few weeks of his life. While 
still only a youth, he fought this 
weakness by practising long-distance 
running, and in 1913 he won second 
prize in the Army Marathon at 
Frankfurt. Aside from this, he was 
perfectly healthy and was always ex- 
ercising to keep himself so. In his 
boyhood he learned how to swim 
while resting on the hands of his 
father, who was holding him in the 
21 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

waters of the Mulde Eiver. In a 
few moments, to the amazement of 
the spectators, he was paddling 
around in the water like a duck. 
This is an example of his courage 
and self-confidence. In the same way 
he rapidly developed into a skilled, 
fearless mountain climber under the 
tuition of his father, when, as a 
seventeen-year-old boy, he was first 
taken on such trips. In the Tux dis- 
trict trips were taken from Lauers- 
bach, and the more difficult the 
climb the more it pleased Oswald. 
Only when there was real danger 
was there any joy for him. His 
mother will never forget the time 
she witnessed his climbing of the 
HoUenstein. She was on the lower 
Krieralpe watching. When it was 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

time to descend lie, taking huge 
strides, fairly ran down the slope 
covered with loose slabs of stone and 
waited, standing on his head, for his 
more cautious father and his brother 
Martin. 

His principal. Dr. Wiehmann, said 
in the words he spoke at Oswald's 
burial: *^He had no mind for books 
or things studious; in him there 
burned the desire for action. He 
was energetic, dynamic, and needed 
to use his bodily vigor. Rowing, 
swimming, diving (in which he won 
prizes as a schoolboy), ball games of 
all kinds, and gymnastics, he choose 
as his favorite occupations before he 
entered his profession as a soldier. 
He might also have added skating 
and dancing, for he was a very grace- 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

ful dancer. His favorite studies 
were History, Mathematics and 
Physics. Treitschke's Works and 
the reports of the General Staff 
were the books he said he liked best 
to read. So he was attracted by the 
military life while still young. Be- 
fore even his eldest brother thought 
of it, Oswald wrote him that he yearn- 
ed to become an officer. In order to 
fulfil this desire, he decided while 
still in the third year of school to 
write to His Majesty the Kaiser that 
he would like to be an officer, and 
ask for admission to a cadet school. 
His parents did not learn of this till 
his wish was granted, and though 
putting no obstacles in his path, 
decided it was better that he finish 
his schooling before breaking away 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

from *^liome life.'' After this, Ms 
parents let him join the Telegraph- 
ers' Battalion No. 3, at Koblenz, as 
color guard. They had full confi- 
dence in him and his strength of 
character, and let him leave home 
with no misgivings. Thanks to his 
fine physical condition and his en- 
thusiasm, the King's service in the 
beautiful country of the Rhine and 
the Moselle was a joy to him. Here 
he spent many pleasant years, rich 
in friendship and making ever 
stronger the family ties. After fin- 
ishing his schooling as a soldier, he 
returned to Koblenz from Metz and 
in the fall was commissioned as a 
lieutenant. 

In this summer he and his brother 
Martin had the adventure on the 
25 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Heiterwand, in the Lechtal Alps, 
wMch many heard of. He and his 
brother, in consequence of a heavy 
fog, lost their way during a difficult 
climb and after wandering for a day 
and a night, were rescued by the 
heroic sacrifices of Romanus Walch, 
an engineer, and several guides. It 
was his love for his parents that 
made him take the way which was 
impassable except in a few spots, in- 
stead of taking the easier south way. 
On that day, July 26th, his father 
was to have charge of the opening 
celebrations at the Anhalt Shelter, 
situated on the northern face of the 
Heiterwand. He felt he had to take 
the shorter, more difficult route so 
as not to keep his father in suspense 
on the day of the festivities. Even 
26 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

if he did not spare his parents this 
anxiety, still he and his brother ar- 
rived shortly after the celebrations, 
in tattered clothes but fresh and 
shouting in spite of the strain and 
lack of food. 

He wrote with great satisfaction 
of his work with the telephone divis- 
ion and later with the wireless divis- 
ion. Especially he liked his work in 
the Taunus, the Odenwald and the 
Eiffel, with its varying, beautiful 
scenery which pleased the nature- 
lover in him. Service with the wire- 
less took him to Darmstadt with a 
battalion from Koblenz, and it was 
there that he first came into contact 
with the aviation corps. They had a 
school there on the parade grounds. 
He silently planned to join them, but 
27 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

not till June, 1914, was he able to 
attain his heart's desire, when he 
was transferred to the school at Hal- 
berstadt. In six weeks his training 
was completed, and on the day be- 
fore the mobilization he passed his 
final examination. On August 1st, 
on his way to Darmstadt, where he 
was ordered, he visited his parents in 
Dessau for an hour. After they had 
pushed through the throng around 
the station to a quiet nook inside, he 
made a confession to them. He had 
not been in the wireless service at 
Halberstadt, as they had thought, but 
had instead been getting his training 
as an aviator. He had kept this 
from them so that he should not 
spoil their vacation in the APps at 
Hinter-Tux. This loving care was 
28 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

remembered in this stirring moment 
and he was forgiven. Still they 
could not help being frightened at 
the dangerous work he had chosen; 
his brother Wilhelm had already 
joined the aviation corps of the Ger- 
man army as observer. But in the 
face of the tremendous happenings 
of those days, personal care and 
sorrow had to be forgotten. So they 
parted with him, commending hun 
to the care of Grod, who rules the air 
as well as the earth. 

Though eager to be off to war, he 
had to be content with staying in 
Darmstadt and Trier with the re- 
serves. Finally, on the 1st of Sep- 
tember, he was allowed to fly from 
Trier to the enemy's country. His 
objective was Sedan. On the way, 
29 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

he landed in Montmedy to visit his 
brother Wilhelm, who was an ob- 
server with the aviation section sta- 
tioned there. He was ordered to 
stay there for a time, and had the 
great satisfaction of being united 
with his brother, for the division 
commander ordered him to report to 
his troop. So the brothers had the 
good luck to be fighting almost 
shoulder to shoulder in the Argonnes 
and the Champagne. If it was pos- 
sible, they were both in the same 
machine: Wilhelm as observer, Os- 
wald as pilot. Each knew he could 
trust the other implicitly. So they 
were of one heart and one soul in 
meeting the thousand and one dan- 
gers of their daily tasks. 



30 



FROM THE BEGINNING OF 

THE WAR TO THE FIRST 

VICTORY 



81 



FROM THE BEGINNING OF 

THE WAR TO THE FIRST 

VICTORY 

Halberstadt^ August 1, 1914 
Where I will be sent from here, I 
cannot say as yet. My old mobiliza- 
tion orders commanded me to report 
to a reconnoitering squadron in the 
first line, as commander. But these 
have been countermanded, and I do 
not know anything about my desti- 
nation. I expect to get telegraphic 
orders to-day or to-morrow. 

Darmstadt^ August 3, 1914 
Arrived here safe and sound after 
a slight detour via Cologne. I am 
33 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

very glad that I can spend to-day 
and to-morrow with B. and my other 
old friends. Then they go, and only 
poor I must stay with the Eeserve. 
I think that we will get our turn, 
too, in two weeks. 

Trier^ August 29, 1914 
Arrived here safely. Myself drove 
a 30 horsepower Opel via Koblenz. 
Wonderful auto ride! 

I managed to get time to pass my 
third examination in Darmstadt be- 
fore I left. 

P., September 3, 1914 
Started last night with a non-com- 
missioned officer at six o'clock and 
landed here safely at seven. It was 
a very pretty flight. 
34 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Ch., September 4, 1914 
Have been here with the division 
for two days. As I had no observer 
along, Wilhelm has commandeered 
me. Of course, I like to fly best 
with Wilhelm, since he has the best 
judgment and practical experience. 
As he already knows the country 
fairly well, he doesn't need a map at 
all to set his course. We flew over 
the enemy's positions for about an 
hour and a half at a height of two 
thousand eight hundred meters, till 
Wilhelm had spotted everything. 
Then we made a quick return. He 
had found the position of all the 
enemy's artillery. As a result of his 
reports, the first shots fired struck 
home. 

When I reached the aviation field 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

the next afternoon two of the planes 
had already left; Wilhelm also. For 
me there were written orders to lo- 
cate the enemy at certain points. At 
my machine I found the non-com- 
missioned officer who had come with 
me from Trier; he said he was to go 
up with me. This seemed odd to me, 
because I really should have been 
flying with Wilhelm. I got in and 
went off with him, since I knew the 
country from my first flight. We 
had quite a distance to fly and were 
under way two and a half hours. I 
flew over the designated roads that | 
ran through past the Argonne For- I 
est, and with a red pencil marked on 
the map wherever I saw anything. 
Above T., at a height of two thou- 
sand five hundred meters, we were"" 
36 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

under heavy fire. I was rather un- 
comfortable. To the right, below us, 
we saw little clouds pop up; then a 
few to the right and left of us. This 
was the smoke of the bursting artil- 
lery shells. Now, I think nothing 
about such things. They never hit 
as long as you fly over 2,500 meters 
high, as we do. 

At 7:10 I landed safely here at 
our camp. And what was the thanks 
I got for having sailed around over 
the enemy's lines for over two and 
a half hours? I got a ^'call down." 
I had hardly shut off my engine 
when Wilhelm came racing over to 
me. * ' Where were you ? What have 
you been doing? Are you crazy? 
You are not to fl}^ Avithout my per- 
mission! You're not to go up unless 
37 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

I am along/' And more of the same 
stuff. Only after I had given my 
word to do as he asked, would he let 
me alone. 

Wednesday evening we had a fine 
surprise: two of our *^ missing'' re- 
turned. They had been forced to 
land behind the enemy's line because 
their motor had stopped. They were 
hardly down when the ^^Pisangs" 
(French peasants) came running to- 
ward them from every direction. 
They managed to get into a nearby 
woods by beating a hasty retreat. 
Behind them they heard the yelling 
of the men and women. The woods 
was surrounded, and they had to 
hide till night fell. Then they es- 
caped into the Argonne Forest, un- 
der cover of darkness although fired 
38 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

on a number of times. Here they 
spent five days, avoiding French 
troops. As they had only berries 
and roots to eat, and could only 
travel at night, they were almost 
ready to surrender. But on the 
morning of the seventh day they 
heard someone say, in German, '^Get 
on the job, you fool.^' Those were 
sweet words to them, for it was a 
scouting party of German Dragoons. 
Thus, they got back to us. 

M., Septembek 10, 1914 
Yesterday I went along to the light 
artillery positions, and from there 
had a good view of the battlefield. 
There really was nothing to see. 
There were no large bodies of sol- 
diers, only here and there a rider or 
39 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

a civilian. The only thing you could 
see was the smoke from bursting 
shells and the burning villages all 
about. But if there was nothing to 
see, there certainly was plenty to 
hear — the dull noise of the light 
artillery, the sharp crash of the field 
pieces and the crackling of small 
arms. On the way we passed an en- 
campment of reserves. It was a scene 
exactly like one during the annual 
manoeuvers; some were cooking, 
some strolling about, but most of 
them loafed around on their backs, 
not paying any attention to the bat- 
tle at all. 

At 5 : 30 we went up. Now I had a 

chance to see from the air the same 

scene I had just beheld from the 

ground. There was still heavy firing ; 

40 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

as far as the eye could see villages 
were burning. At 7 : 30 we were down 
again. 

B., September 16, 1914 
Last night three of us tried to 
take some observations, but all had 
to come back, as the clouds were too 
heavy. This morning it was my 
turn to go up, but it was raining. 
We have to have the fires going to 
keep our quarters warm. Next to 
me a log-fire is burning merrily. 
My back is baked to a crisp. When 
my one side gets too hot, I have to 
turn to give the other a chance to 
roast. Later some of the telegra- 
phers are coming over and we are 
going to play '^Schafskopf (a Ger- 
man card game). G^est la guerre! 
41 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

B., October 12, 1914 
This evening I received the Iron 
Cross. 

B., October 25, 1914 
For weeks the weather has been 
so foggy that we began to consider 
ourselves as good as retired. But 
three days ago it began to become 
bearable again. We took good ad- 
vantage of it. We were in our ma- 
chines early in the morning and 
^* worked'' till 5 : 30 at night. I made 
five flights to-day. First, Wilhelm, 
as the observer, did some scout work, 
and later did some range-finding 
for the artillery. We had agreed 
that we were to fly above the ene- 
my's positions and then the artillery 
was to fire. Then it was Wilhelm 's 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

duty, as observer, to see where the 
shells struck and signal to our artil- 
lery, with colored lights, if the shots 
fell short, beyond, to right or left, of 
the mark. This we do until our gun- 
ners find the range. On the 22d, as 
a result of this, we destroyed one of 
the enemy's batteries. The next day 
we wiped out three in three and a 
half hours. This sort of flying is 
very trying to observer and pilot 
alike, as both have to be paying con- 
stant attention to business. 

Yesterday Wilhelm was at head- 
quarters, and returned with the Iron 
Cross of the First Class. He has 
covered a total distance of 6,500 kilo- 
meters over the enemy's soil, while 
I have covered 3,400. 



43 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

October 27, 1914 
Wilhelm lias discovered nine of 
the enemy's batteries south of M. 
and southeast of Eheims, among 
them being one right next to the ca- 
thedral 1 

November 5, 1914 
As the weather is very poor for 
flights in mid-day, we do most of 
our flying right after sunrise, about 
7 : 30. Things began to liven up at 
different points to-day. Our friend, 
the enemy, had to be taken down a 
peg, again. Shortly after 7 ; 30 we 
started. Everything went well, so 
that we were back in an hour. Then 
we payed another visit to our artil- 
lery. We now fly for four of our 
batteries, and they only fire when we 
give them the range. Whenever they 
44 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

have a target, it is destroyed at the 
first opportunity. So we made two 
more flights to-day, therefore, a total 
of three, and put four enemy bat- 
teries out of action. We are doing 
things wholesale now. 

November 10, 1914 
Wilhelm has now flown a distance 
of 9,400, I 7,300, kilometers over 
enemy soil. 

Letter of November 15, 1914 
Mother doesn't need to be afraid 
that continual flying will affect our 
nerves. The very opposite is more 
probable. We get most impatient if 
we are kept idle a few days because 
of poor weather. We stand around 
looking out of the window to see if 
45 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

it isn't clearing up. Nerves can be 
the excuse for almost anything, I 
guess. 

B., NOVEMBEK 30, 1914 
I did not get the Fokker as yet. 
I was to get it at E., Thursday. Too 
bad. To fly for the artillery, which 
is our main work just now, the Fok- 
ker is very excellent, because of its 
speed, stability and ease of control. 
A new machine has been ordered for 
me at the factory, but I cannot say 
if I am going to get it, and when. 

P., December 9, 1914 
Bad weather. No important work. 
Now, we ought to be in the East, 
where there is something doing. 

Yesterday I was in E. and got my 
Fokker, which had arrived in the 
46 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

meantime. It is a small monoplane, 
with a . French rotary engine in 
front; it is about half as large as a 
Taube. This is the last modern ma- 
chine which I have learned to fly; 
now I can fly all the types we make 
in Germany. The Fokker was my 
big Christmas present. I now have 
two machines: the large biplane for 
long flights and the small Fokker for 
range finding. This 'plane flies won- 
derfully and is very easy to handle. 
Now my two children are resting to- 
gether in a tent, the little one in a 
hollow, with its tail under the plane 
of the big one. 

P., January 21, 1915 

Since Christmas we have made the 

following flights: December 24th, 

47 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

an hour and a half; December 25th, 
one hour; December 30th, one hour; 
January 6th, one hour; January 
12th, four hours; January 18th, two 
hours. It was poor weather, so we 
could not do more than this. There 
isn't much use in flying now, any- 
how, as long as we do not want to 
advance. We are facing each other 
here for months, and each side 
knows the other's position exactly. 
Changes of position, flanking move- 
ments, and bringing up of strong 
reserves, as in open warfare, is a 
thing of the past when we stick to 
the trenches, so there is nothing to 
report. There would be some sense 
in flying to find the range, but as 
we do not want to advance at pres- 
ent our artillery does very little 
48 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

firing. It is sufficient at this stage 
that an airplane takes a peep over 
the line once in a while, to see if 
everything is still as they left it. 

P., Januaky 27, 1915 
This morning our Captain gave K. 
and me the Iron Cross of the First 
Class. 

P., April 25, 1915 
To-morrow I leave here; I have 

been transferred to the Plying 

Squadron, which is just being es- 
tablished. To-morrow I go to Ber- 
lin to report at the inspection of 
aviators. 

P., May 16, 1915 
Safely back in P. The trip was 
made in comparatively quick time. 
49 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

P., May 17, 1915 
We had to leave here this after- 
noon, after we had hardly arrived. 
I am very glad. New scenery and 
something doing. 

D., May 22, 1915 
I had hoped to have plenty to do 
here, but the weather cancelled our 
plans. We had plenty of time to 
establish ourselves, assemble our ma- 
chines and tune them up with a few 
flights. 

The city is entirely unharmed and 
the greater part of the inhabitants 
are still here. The city gives an im- 
pression similar to Zerbst — a mod- 
ern section with cottages and an old 
section with older houses: the city 
hall, remains of the old city wall, 
and so-forth. The inhabitants are 
50 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

prosperous. All the stores, hotels, 
coffee-houses and cafes are open. 
Every day two of my friends (Im- 
melmann and Lieutenant P.) and I 
go to one of these coffee-houses. 

D., May 25, 1915 
By chance, I witnessed a great 
military spectacle. As I did not 
have to fly in the afternoon, I went 
to the artillery observer's post with 
our Captain. About four o'clock we 
reached V.; from here we had an- 
other half hour's walk ahead of us. 
From a distance we could see there 
was heavy firing going on. The 
Major, in the company's bomb-proof, 
told us that the artillery would hard- 
ly have time now to avail themselves 
of airplanes to find the range for 
51 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK \ 

i 

them. The French were just at the \ 

time trying to get revenge for an at- \ 
tack we made the day before, and 

the artillery was very busy. From | 

there we went to the observer's post ; 
and were very lucky. Our batteries 

were just firing at the enemy's, our ; 

airplanes finding the range for them. > 

Suddenly the non-commissioned of- | 

ficer at the double-periscope yelled ] 

over to us that the French were \ 
bringing up reinforcements through 

the communicating trenches. The ; 
Lieutenant of Artillery ran over to 

the field artillery and showed them ; 
the beautiful target. Soon after that 
a few of our shrapnel burst over 
these positions. Bang! And the 

enemy was gone. Suddenly a ball ; 

of red fire appeared in the first 1 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

French trench. This meant — shells 
fall ahead of trenches; place shots 
further back. Just then, over a 
front of one and a half kilome- 
ters, a whole brigade of French- 
men rose from the trenches, shoulder 
to shoulder, a thing I had never seen 
before. We have to admire them for 
their courage. In front, the officers 
about four or five steps in the lead; 
behind them, in a dense line, the 
men, partly negroes, whom we could 
recognize by their baggy trousers. 
The whole line moved on a run. For 
the first four hundred meters (in all 
they had seven hundred meters to 
cover) we let them come without 
firing. Then we let them have our 
first shrapnel. As the .artillery knew 
the exact range, the first shots were 
53 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

effective. Then came the heavier 
shells. We now opened a murderous 
fire ; it was so loud that we could not 
hear each other at two paces. Again 
and again our shells struck the dense 
masses and tore huge gaps in them, 
but, in spite of this, the attack con- 
tinued. The gaps were always quick- 
ly closed. Now our infantry took a 
hand. Our men stood up in the 
trenches, exposed from the hips up, 
and fired like madmen. After three 
or four minutes the attack slack- 
ened in spots; that is, parts of the 
line advanced, others could not. 
After a quarter of an hour the 
French on our left wing, which I 
could see, reached our trenches, 
shot and stabbed from above, and 
finally jumped in. Now we could 
54 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

plainly see the hand-to-hand combat : 
heads bobbing back and forth, guns 
clubbed (they seemed to be only try- 
ing to hit, not kill), glistening bay- 
onets, and a general commotion. On 
the right wing, things progressed 
slower, almost at a standstill. In 
the middle a group jumped forward 
now and then, and into them the 
artillery fired with telling effect. 
We could see men running wildly 
about, they could not escape our artil- 
lery fire. The whole slope was strewn 
with bodies. After about a quarter 
of an hour the Frenchmen started to 
retreat. First one, then two, then 
three, came out of our trenches, look- 
ed all around, and started for their 
own trenches. In the meantime more 
troops came up from the rear. But 
55 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

after the first few started to run 
more came out of the trenches, until 
finally all were out and retreating. 
Our men also got out to be able to 
fire at the retreating enemy to better 
advantage. Again and again the 
French officers tried to close up their 
ranks, rally their men, and lead them 
anew to the attack. 

But in vain, for more and 
more sought safety in flight. Many 
dropped — I think more than in the 
advance. In the center, the French 
had advanced to within fifty meters 
of us, and could get no closer. As 
the retreat started on the left, some 
in the center also lost heart, and fled 
like frightened chickens. But al- 
most all were killed. I saw six run- 
ning away when a shell exploded 
56 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

near them. The smoke disappeared ; 
there were only four left. A second 
shell, and only one was left. He was 
probably hit by the infantry. The 
following proves how completely we 
repelled their attack : Four French- 
men rose, waved their arms and ran 
toward our trench. Two of them 
carried a severely wounded comrade. 
Suddenly they dropped their burden 
and ran faster toward us. Probably 
their comrades had fired on them. 
Hardly were these four in our 
trenches when fifty more of them 
got up, waved their caps and ran to- 
ward us. But the Frenchmen didn't 
like this, and in a second four well- 
placed shells burst between them and 
us; probably they were afraid that 
there would be a general surrender 
57 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

on the part of their men. The re- 
treat was now general. At 6 : 15 the 
main battle was over. Afterward 
we could see here and there a few 
Frenchmen running or crawling to 
their trench. 

I was very glad I had the oppor- 
tunity to see this. Prom above, we 
aviators don't see such things. 



58 



PILOT OF A BATTLEPLANE 



59 



PILOT OF A BATTLEPLANE 

D., June 24, 1915 
Yesterday the Crown Prince of Ba- 
varia, our chief, inspected our camp. 
Here we have gathered samples of 
about everything that our knowledge 
of aviation has developed : Two air- 
plane squadrons and one battleplane 
division. Both airplane squadrons 
are equipped with the usual biplanes, 
only we have an improvement: the 
wireless, by means of which we di- 
rect the fire of our artillery. The 
battleplane squadron is here because 
there is a lot to do at present on this 
front (the West). Among them 
there are some unique machines, for 
61 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

example: a great battleplane with 
two motors: for three passengers, 
and equipped with a bomb-dropping 
apparatus — it is a huge apparatus. 
Outside of this, there are other bat- 
tleplanes with machine guns. They 
are a little larger than the usual run. 
Then there are some small Fokker 
monoplanes, also with machine guns. 
So we have everything the heart can 
desire. The squadron has only made 
one flight, but since then the French 
haven't been over here. I guess 
something must have proved an eye- 
opener to them. 

June 30, 1915 

Rain, almost continuously, since 
the 22d. I am absolutely sick of this 
loafing. 

Since June 14th, I have a battle- 
62 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

plane of my own: a biplane, with 
150-liorsepower motor. The pilot sits 
in front; the observer behind him, 
operating the machine gun, which 
can be fired to either side and to the 
rear. As the French are trying to 
hinder our aerial observation by 
means of battleplanes, we now have 
to protect our division while it flies. 
When the others are doing range- 
finding, I go up with them, fly about 
in their vicinity, observe with them 
and protect them from attack. If 
a Frenchman wants to attack them, 
then I make a hawk-like attack on 
him, while those who are observing 
go on unhindered in their flight. I 
chase the Frenchman away by flying 
toward him and firing at him with 
the machine gun. It is beautiful to 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

see them run from me; they always 
do this as quick as possible. In this 
way, I have chased away over a 
dozen. 

July 6, 1915 
I succeeded in carrying a battle 
through to complete victory Sunday 
morning. I was ordered to protect 
Lieutenant P., who was out range- 
finding, from enemy 'planes. We 
were just on our way to the front, 
when I saw a French monoplane, at 
a greater height, coming toward us. 
As the higher 'plane has the advan- 
tage, we turned away; he didn't see 
us, but flew on over our lines. We 
w^ere very glad, because lately the 
French hate to fly over our lines. 
When over our ground the enemy 
cannot escape by volplaning to the 
64 



O: 

ir 

Q 
O 





1 


H 


1 


^M 


1 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

earth. As soon as he had passed 
us we took up the pursuit. Still he 
flew very rapidly, and it took us 
half an hour till we caught up with 
him at V. As it seems, he did not 
see us till late. Close to V. we start- 
ed to attack him, I always heading 
him off. As soon as we were close 
enough my observer started to pep- 
per him with the machine gun. He 
defended himself as well as he could, 
but we were always the aggressor, 
he having to protect himself. Luck- 
ily, we were faster than he, so he 
could not flee from us by turning. We 
were higher and faster; he below us 
and slower, so that he could not es- 
cape. By all kinds of manoeuvers 
he tried to increase the distance be- 
tween us ; without success, for I was 
65 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

always close on him. It was glori- 
ous. I always stuck to him so that 
my observer could fire at close range. 
We could plainly see everything on 
our opponent's monoplane, almost 
every wire, in fact. The average 
distance between us was a hundred 
meters; often we were within thirty 
meters, for at such high speeds you 
cannot expect success unless you get 
very close together. The whole fight 
lasted about twenty or twenty-five 
minutes. By sharp turns, on the 
part of our opponent, by janmiing 
of the action on our machine gun, or 
because of reloading, there were lit- 
tle gaps in the firing, which I used 
to close in on the enemy. Our su- 
periority showed up more and more ; 
at the end I felt just as if the 
66 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Frenchman had given up defending 
himself and lost all hope of escape. 
Shortly before he fell, he made a 
motion with his hand, as if to say: 
let us go ; we are conquered ; we sur- 
render. But what can you do in 
such a case, in the air? Then he 
started to volplane ; I followed. My 
observer fired thirty or forty more 
shots at him; then suddenly he dis- 
appeared. In order not to lose him, 
I planed down, my machine almost 
vertical. Suddenly my observer cried, 
*^He is falling; he is falling," and 
he clapped me on the back joyously. 
I did not believe it at first, for with 
these monoplanes it is possible to 
glide so steeply as to appear to be 
falling. I looked all over, surprised, 
but saw nothing. Then I glided to 
67 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

earth and W. told me that the ene- 
my machine had suddenly turned 
over and fallen straight dowu i^to 
the woods below. We descended to 
a height of a hundred meters and 
searched for ten minutes, flying 
above the woods, but seeing nothing. 
So we decided to land in a meadow 
near the woods and search on foot. 
Soldiers and civilians were running 
toward the woods from all sides. 
They said that the French machine 
had fallen straight down from a 
great height, turned over twice, and 
disappeared in the trees. This news 
was good for us, and it was con- 
firmed by a bicyclist, who had al- 
ready seen the fallen machine and 
said both passengers were dead. We 
hurried to get to the spot. On the 
68 



IAN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

way Captain W., of the cavalry, told 
me that everyone within sight had 
taken part in the fight, even if only 
from below. Everyone was very ex- 
cited, because none knew which was 
the German and which the French, 
due to the great height. When we 
arrived we found officers, doctors 
and soldiers already there. The ma- 
chine had fallen from a height of 
about 1,800 meters. Since both pas- 
sengers were strapped in, they had 
not fallen out. The machine had 
fallen through the trees with tre- 
mendous force, both pilot and ob- 
server, of course, being dead. The 
doctors, who examined them at once, 
could not help them any more. The 
pilot had seven bullet wounds, the 
observer three. I am sure both were 
69 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK ; 

dead before they fell. We found i 

several important papers and other ; 

matter on them. In the afternoon i 

my observer, W., and I flew back to ' 

D., after a few rounds of triumph i 

above the village and the fallen air- I 

plane. On the following day, the | 

two aviators were buried with full ' 

i 

military honors in the cemetery at j 
M. Yesterday we were there. The \ 
grave is covered with flowers and at \ 
the spot where they fell there is a 
large red, white and blue bouquet i 
and many other flowers. i 
I was very glad that my observer, \ 
W., got the Iron Cross. He fought 
excellently ; in all, he fired three hun- 
dred and eighty shots, and twenty- i 
seven of them hit the enemy air- i 
plane. 

70 , : 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Letter of July 16, 1915 
. • . Father asks if it will be all 
right to publish my report in the 
newspapers. I don't care much for 
newspaper publicity, and I do not 
think that my report is written in a 
style suitable for newspapers. The 
people want such a thing written 
with more poetry and color — grue- 
some, nerve-wrecking suspense, com- 
plete revenge, mountainous clouds, 
blue, breeze-swept sky — that is what 
they want. But if the publication 
of the report will bring you any joy, 
I will not be against it. 

August 11, 1915 

Early August 10th the weather 

was very poor so that our officer 

'phoned in to the city, saying there 

71 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

was no need of my coming out. So 
I was glad to stay in bed. Suddenly 
my boy woke me up, saying an Eng- 
lish flyer bad just passed. I bopped 
out of bed and ran to the window. 
But the Englishman was headed 
for his own lines, so there wasn't 
any chance of my catching him. I 
crawled back to bed, angry at be- 
ing disturbed. I had hardly gotten 
comfortably warm, when my boy 
came in again — the Englishman was 
coming back. Well, I thought if 
this fellow has so much nerve, I had 
better get dressed. Unwashed, in 
my nightshirt, without leggings, 
hardly half dressed, I rode out to 
the camp on my motorcycle. I got 
there in time to see the fellows (not 
one, but four!) dropping bombs on 
72 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

the aviation field. As I was, I got 
into my machine and went up after 
them. But as the English had very 
speedy machines and headed for 
home after dropping their bombs, I 
did not get within range of them. 
Very sad, I turned back and could 
not believe my eyes, for there were 
five more of the enemy paying us a 
visit. Straight for the first one I 
headed. I got him at a good angle, 
and peppered him well, but just 
when I thought the end was near 
my machine gun jammed. I was 
furious. I tried to repair the dam- 
age in the air, but in my rage only 
succeeded in breaking the jammed 
cartridge in half. There was noth- 
ing left to do but land and change 
the cartridges; while doing this I 
73 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK '• 

saw our other monoplanes arrive 
and was glad that they, at least, \ 
would give the Englishmen a good i 
fight. While having the damage re- < 
paired, I saw Lieutenant Immel- i 
mann make a pretty attack on an | 
Englishman, who tried to fly away. I 
I quickly went up to support Im- i 
melmann, but the enemy was gone | 
by the time I got there. In the I 
meantime, Immelmann had forced his | 
opponent to land. He had wounded 
him, shattering his left arm — Im- 
melmann had had good luck. Two : 
days before I had flown with him in j 
a Fokker; that is, I did the piloting • 
and he was only learning. The day \ 
before was the first time he had j 
made a flight alone, and was able to ! 
land only after a lot of trouble. He : 

i 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

had never taken part in a battle with 
the enemy, but in spite of that, he 
had handled himself very well. 

August 23, 1915 
On the evening of the 19th I had 
some more luck. 

I fly mostly in the evening to 
chase the Frenchmen who are out 
range-finding, and that evening there 
were a lot of them out. The first 
one I went for was an English Bris- 
tol biplane. He seemed to take me 
for a Frenchman; he came toward 
me quite leisurely, a thing our op- 
ponents generally don't do. But 
when he saw me firing at him, he 
quickly turned. I followed close on 
him, letting him have all I could 
give him. I must have hit him or 
75 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

his machine, for he suddenly shut 
off his engine and disappeared be- 
low me. As the fight took place 
over the enemy's position, he was 
able to land behind his own lines. 
According to our artillery, he land- 
ed right near his own artillery. That 
is the second one I am positive I left 
my mark on; I know I forced him 
to land. He didn't do it because he 
was afraid, but because he was hit. 
The same evening I attacked two 
more, and both escaped by volplan- 
ing. But I cannot say whether or 
not I hit them, as both attacks took 
place over the French lines. 

August 29, 1915 
Day before yesterday I flew my 

Fokker to the division at , where 

76 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

from now on I am to serve with the 
rank of officer. I am to get a newer, 
more powerful machine — 100-horse- 
power engine. Yesterday I again 
had a chance to demonstrate my skill 
as a swimmer. The canal, which 
passes in front of the Casino, is 
about 25 meters wide and 21^ meters 
deep. The tale is told here that 
there are fish in the water, too, and 
half the town stands around with 
their lines in the water. I have 
never yet seen any of them catch 
anything. In front of the Casino 
there is a sort of bank, where they 
unload the boats. Yesterday, after 
lunch, I was standing outside the 
door with T. and saw a French boy 
climb over the rail, start in fishing 
and suddenly hop into the water. I 
77 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

ran over to see what he was doing, 
but he wasn't in sight. This seemed 
peculiar, so I wasted no time in 
thought, but dived over after him. 
This all happened so quickly that T. 
was just in time to see me go in and 
did not know what was the matter. 
I came to the surface, but still alone. 
Then I saw, not far from me, bub- 
bles and someone struggling in the 
water. I swam over to him, dived, 
came up under him, and had him. 
In the meantime T. and the chauf- 
feur had arrived and T. thought I 
was going to drown and got ready 
to go in after me. Finally we got 
to a nearby boat and T. pulled the 
boy and me out. When we got to 
the land the mother of the boy came 
running up and thanked me most 
78 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

profusely. Tlae rest of the popula- 
tion gave me a real ovation. I must 
have looked funny, because I had 
jiunped in as I was and the water 
was streaming off me. 

September 18, 1915 
To-day I went to see the boy^s 
parents and they were very grateful. 
The boy had grown dizzy while 
standing on the bank and had fallen 
in. They said they would get the 
order of the French Legion of Hon- 
or for me if they could. That would 
be a good joke. 

Lately, I have flown to the front 
every evening with Lieutenant Im- 
melmann, to chase the Frenchmen 
there. As there are usually eight or 
ten of them, we have plenty to do. 
79 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Saturday we had the luck to get a 
French battleplane and between us 
chase it till it was at a loss what to 
do. Only by running away did it 
escape us. The French did not like 
this at all. The next evening we 
went out peacefully to hunt the ene- 
my and were struck right away by 
their great numbers. Suddenly they 
went crazy and attacked us. They 
had a new type biplane, very fast, 
with fuselage. They seemed to be 
surprised that we let them attack us. 
We were glad that at last we had an 
opponent who did not run the first 
chance he got. After a few vain at- 
tacks, they turned and we followed, 
each of us took one and soon forced 
them to volplane to earth. As it was 
already late, we were satisfied and 
80 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

turned to go home. Suddenly I saw 
two enemy 'planes cruising around 
over our lines. Since our men in the 
trenches might think we were afraid, 
I made a signal for Immelmann to 
take a few more turns over the lines 
to show this was not so. But he 
misunderstood me and attacked one 
of the Frenchmen, but the latter did 
not relish this. Meanwhile the sec- 
ond 'plane started for Immelmann, 
who could not see him, and I natur- 
ally had to go to Immelmann 's aid. 
When the second Frenchman saw 
me coming he turned and made for 
me. I let him have a few shots so 
that he turned away when things got 
too hot for him. That was a big 
mistake, for it gave me a chance to 
get him from behind. This is the 
81 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

position from which I prefer to at- 
tack. I was close on his heels and 
not more than fifty meters separated 
us, so it was not long before I had 
hit him. I must have mortally 
wounded the pilot, for suddenly he 
threw both his arms up and the ma- 
chine fell straight down. I saw him 
fall and he turned several times be- 
fore striking, about 400 meters in 
front of our lines. Everybody was 
immensely pleased, and it has been 
established beyond all doubt that 
both aviators were killed and the 
machine wrecked. Inunelmann also 
saw him fall, and was immensely 
pleased by our success. 



82 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

M., September 23, 1915 
Sunday night I unexpectedly re- 
ceived a telegram saying I had been 
transferred. As yet there is no ma- 
chine here for me, so, for the time 
being, I have nothing to do. 

M., September 27, 1915 
I was casually wandering through 
the streets ; stopped to read the daily 
bulletins, and there was my name. 

It happened the third day of my 
stay here. As my machines had not 
yet arrived, the Captain loaned me 
a Fokker. I was told to be ready 
at nine o'clock, as the others were to 
protect the Kaiser, who was break- 
fasting in a nearby castle. As I 
wanted to get acquainted with my 
machine, I went up at a quarter of 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

nine. I was up about three or four '\ 
minutes when I saw bombs bursting 
and three or four enemy 'planes fly- ; 
ing toward M. I quickly tried to 
climb to their altitude. This, of j 
course, always takes some time, and ; 
by that time the enemy was over M., 
unloading their bombs on the rail- 
road station. Luckily they hit noth- ; 
ing. After they had all dropped | 
their bombs (there were now ten of ' 
them) they turned to go home. I ] 
was now about at their altitude, so \ 
I started for them. One of the bi- I 
planes saw me — it seems they go 
along to protect the others — and he ; 
attacked me from above. Since it is 
very hard to fire at an opponent who 
is above you, I let him have a few ; 
shots and turned away. That was ; 
84 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

all the Frenchman wanted, so he 
turned back. I again attacked the 
squadron and soon succeeded in get- 
ting in range of the lowest of them. 
I did not fire till I was within a hun- 
dred meters, to avoid attracting un- 
necessary attention. My opponent 
was frightened and tried to escape. 
I was right behind him all the while, 
and kept filling him with well-aimed 
shots. My only worry was the others, 
who heard the shots and came to 
their comrade's rescue. I had to 
hurry. I noticed I was having some 
success, because the Frenchman 
started to glide to earth. Finally, 
both of us had dropped from 2,500 
meters to 1,200. I kept firing at him 
from behind, as well as I could. In 
the meantime, however, two of his 
85 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

friends had arrived and sent me sev- 
eral friendly greetings. That isn't 
very comfortable, and to add to it 
all, I was without a map above a 
strange territory and did not know 
where I was any longer. As my op- 
ponent kept flying lower and his 
companions followed, I had to as- 
sume I was behind the enemy's line. 
Therefore, I ceased my attack and 
soon, owing to my speed and lack of 
desire to follow on the part of the 
French, I left them far behind. Now 
I had to find my way back. I flew 
north, and after a time got back to 
the district around M., which was 
familiar to me from my days at the 
officers' school. When I got back I 
only knew what I have told, and 
could report only a battle and not a 
86 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

victory. By aid of a map I found 
I had been over P. a M. In the af- 
ternoon the report came that the in- 
fantry on the heights of had 

seen a biplane * Aflutter" to earth. 
The artillery positively reported that 
the biplane I had fired on had fallen 
behind the enemy's barbed-wire en- 
tanglements. They said the pilot 
had been dragged to the trenches, 
dead or severely wounded. Then our 
artillery had fired at the 'plane and 
destroyed it. I can only explain the 
thing this way : I wounded the pilot 
during the fight; he had tried to 
glide to earth and land behind his 
own lines; shortly before landing he 
lost consciousness or control of his 
machine; then he ^^ fluttered" to 
earth ; i.e., fell. This was the fourth 
one. 87 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

October 17, 1915 
Yesterday, the 16th, I shot down 
a French Voisin biplane near P. 

R., November 2, 1915 
On the 30th of October we attack- 
ed at T. It was our business to 
break up all scouting on the part of 
the enemy, and that was difficult that 
day. The clouds were only 1,500 
meters above earth, broken in spots. 
The French were sailing around be- 
hind their front on the 1,400-meter 
level. Attacked two through the 
clouds. The first escaped. I got 
within 100 meters of the second be- 
fore he saw me. Then he started to 
run, but that didn't help him any, 
because I was much faster than he. 
I fired 500 shots before he fell. Was 
88 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

within three to five meters of him. 
He would not fall. In the very mo- 
ment when we seemed about to col- 
lide, I turned off to the left. He 
tilted to the right. I saw nothing 
more of him. Was very dizzy my- 
self. Was followed by two Farmans 
and was 1,000 meters behind the ene- 
my's lines. Artillery fired. Too 
high. Got home without being hit. 
The enemy airplane fell behind his 
own lines. The wreck, about 200 
meters from our lines, is plainly 
visible, especially one wing, which is 
sticking straight up. The attack was 
rather rash on my part, but on this 
day of great military value; the 
French did not come near our posi- 
tion after that. 



89 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK \ 

D., December 12, 1915 j 

Am once more in the familiar ] 

town of D. Everything is the same | 

as usual. The Captain was very ) 

glad that he could give me the life- i 
saving medal. It had just arrived. 

D., December 31, 1915 ; 
Christmas celebrated very nicely : 
and in comfort. Christmas Eve we ■ 
had a celebration for the men in one ; 
of the hangars, which was all dec- j 
orated. They all received some fine | 
presents. The authorities had sent ] 
a package with all kinds of things • 
for each one of them. In the eve- : 
ning we officers also had a little cele- 
bration at the Casino ; here they also ; 
gave out our presents. For me there | 
was a very beautiful silver cup, \ 
90 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

among other things. This cup was 
inscribed ^^To the victor in the air/' 
and was given to me by the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Aviation 
Corps. Immelmann received its mate. 
Day before yesterday I had a fight 
with a very keen opponent, who de- 
fended himself bravely. I was su- 
perior to him and forced him into 
the defensive. He tried to escape 
by curving and manoeuvring, and 
even tried to throw me on the de- 
fensive. He did not succeed, but I 
could not harm him either. All I 
did accomplish was to force him 
gradually closer to earth. We had 
started at 2,800 and soon I had him 
down to 1,000 meters. We kept 
whirring and whizzing around each 
other. As I had already fired on 
91 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

two other enemy craft on this trip, 
I had only a few cartridges left. 
This was his salvation. Finally he 
could not defend himself any more 
because I had mortally wounded his 
observer. Now it would have been 
comparatively safe for me to get 
him if I had not run out of ammuni- 
tion at the 800-meter level. Neither 
of us was able to harm the other. 
Finally another Fokker (Immel- 
mann came to my rescue and the 
fight started all over again. I at- 
tacked along with Immelmann to con- 
fuse the Englishman. We succeeded 
in forcing him to within 100 meters 
of the ground and were expecting 
him to land any moment. Still he 
kept flying back and forth like a 
lunatic. I, by flying straight at him, 
9a 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

wanted to put a stop to this, but 
just then my engine stopped and I 
had to land. I saw him disappear 
over a row of trees, armed myself 
with a flashlight (I had nothing bet- 
ter) and rode over on a horse. I 
expected that he had landed, but im- 
agine my surprise! He had flown 
on. I inquired and telephoned, but 
found out nothing. In the evening 
the report came that he had passed 
over our trenches at a height of 100 
meters on his way home. Daring 
of the chap! Not every one would 
care to imitate him. Immelmann 
had jammed his gun and had to quit. 

January 8, 1916 
On the 5th of January I pursued 
two Englishmen, overtook them at 
93 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

H.-L. and attacked the first one. The 
other did not seem to see me ; at any 
rate he kept right on. The fight was 
comparatively short. I attacked, he 
defended himself; I hit and he 
didn't. He had dropped consider- 
ably in the meantime, and finally 
started to sway and landed. I stayed 
close behind him, so he could not es- 
cape. Close to H. he landed; his 
machine broke apart, the pilot 
jumped out and collapsed. I quick- 
ly landed and found the 'plane al- 
ready surrounded by people from 
the nearby village. The Englishmen, 
whom I interviewed, were both 
wounded. The pilot, who was only 
slightly wounded, could talk Ger- 
man; the observer was severely 
wounded. The former was very sad 
94 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

at his capture; I had hit his controls 
and shot them to pieces. Yesterday 
I visited the observer at the hos- 
pital; the pilot had been taken away 
in the meantime. I brought the ob- 
server English books and photo- 
graphs of his machine. He was very 
pleased. He said he knew my name 
Rvell. 

On the afternoon of the 5th, I 
made another flight, but everything 
was quiet. I landed and rode to the 
city to eat with the rest, because it 
was getting cloudy again. Just im- 
agine my luck! I was hardly in 
when a squadron of ten 'planes ap- 
peared. I hurried back again and ar- 
rived just as they were dropping 
their bombs on our field. All the 
helpers were in the bomb-proofs. I 
95 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

howled as if I were being burned 
alive. At last someone came. I 
had to take an 80-horsepower ma- 
chine, because Immelmann, who had 
remained behind, had already taken 
my 160-horsepower machine. But 
with the 80-horsepower machine I 
could not reach the enemy in time. 
Then I saw one somewhat separated 
from the rest. One Fokker had al- 
ready attacked it, and I went to help 
him, for I saw I could not overtake 
the rest. When the Englishman saw 
both of us on top of him, he judged 
things were too hot for him, and 
quickly landed at V., both of us 
close behind him. The Englishman 
was alone, still had all his bombs, 
was unwounded and had only landed 
through fear. 

96 




o 



:^ 




'.'^^^t^^ 



Cr-c/" 



An Aviator Bombarded AVith Shrapnel 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

January 15, 1916 
Now, events come so fast I cannot 
keep up with them by writing. 

On the 11th we had a little gather- 
ing that kept me up later than usual, 
so I did not feel like getting up in 
the morning. But, as the weather 
was good, I strolled out to the field 
and went up about nine o'clock. I 
flew over to Lille to lie in wait for 
any hostile aircraft. At first, I had 
no luck at all. Finally I saw bombs 
bursting near Ypres. I flew so far 
I could see the ocean, but am sorry 
to say I could not find any enemy 
'plane. On my way back, I saw two 
Englishmen, west of Lille, and at- 
tacked the nearer one. He did not 
appreciate the attention, but turned 
and ran. Just above the trenches I 
97 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

came within gunshot of him. We 
greeted each other with our machine 
guns, and he elected to land. I let 
him go to get at the second of the 
pair, and spoil his visit, also. 
Thanks to my good machine, I grad- 
ually caught up with him, as he flew 
toward the east, north of Lille. 
When I was still four or five hun- 
dred meters away from him, he 
seemed to have seen all he wanted, 
for he turned to fly west. Then I 
went fpr him. I kept behind him till 
I was near enough. The Englishman 
seemed to be an old hand at this 
game, for he let me come on with- 
out firing a shot. He didn't shoot 
until after I started. I flew square- 
ly behind him, and had all the time 
in the world to aim, because he did 
98 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

not vary a hair from his straight 
course. He twice reloaded his gun. 
Suddenly, after only a short while, 
he fell. I was sure I had hit the 
pilot. At 800 meters, his machine 
righted itself, but then dove on, 
head-foremost, till it landed in a 
garden in M., northeast of S. The 
country is very rough there, so I 
went back to our landing-place and 
reported by telephone. To my sur- 
prise, I heard that at the time Im- 
melmann had shot down an English- 
man near P. I had to laugh. 

The greatest surprise came in the 
evening. We were just at dinner 
when I was called to the 'phone. At 
the other end was the Commander- 
in-Chief's Adjutant, who congrat- 
ulated me for receiving the order 
99 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Pour le merite, I thought he was 
joking. But he told me that Immel- 
mann and I had both received this 
honor at the telegraphic order of the 
Kaiser. My surprise and joy were 
great. I went in and said nothing, 
but sent Captain K. to the 'phone, 
and he received the news and broke 
it to all. First, everyone was sur- 
prised, then highly pleased. On the 
same evening I received several mes- 
sages of congratulation, and the next 
day, January 13th, had nothing to 
do all day but receive other such 
messages. 

Everybody seemed elated. One old 
chap would not let me go, and I 
didn't escape till I promised to visit 
him. From all comers I received 
messages: by telephone and tele- 
100 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

graph. The King of Bavaria, who 
happened to be in Lille with the Ba- 
varian Crown Prince, invited me to 
dinner for the 14th of January. 

Now comes the best of all. On the 
14th, that is, yesterday, it was ideal 
weather for flying. So I went up at 
nine o'clock to look around. As it 
was getting cloudy near Lille, I 
changed my course to take me south 
of Arras. I was up hardly an hour, 
when I saw the smoke of bursting 
bombs near P. I flew in that direc- 
tion, but the Englishman who was 
dropping the bombs saw me and 
started for home. I soon overtook 
him. 

When he saw I intended to attack 
him, he suddenly turned and at- 
tacked me. Now, there started the 
101 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

hardest figlit I have as yet been in. 
The Englishman continually tried to 
attack me from behind, and I tried 
to do the same to him. We circled 
'round and 'round each other. I had 
taken my experience of December 
28th to heart (that was the time I 
had used up all my ammunition), so 
I only fired when I could get my 
sights on him. In this way, we cir- 
cled around, I often not firing a shot 
for several minutes. This merry- 
go-round was immaterial to me, 
since we were over our lines. But I 
watched him, for I felt that sooner 
or later he would make a dash for 
home. I noticed that while circling 
around he continually tried to edge 
over toward his own lines, which 
were not far away. I waited my 

102 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

chance, and was able to get at him 
in real style, shooting his engine to 
pieces. This I noticed when he glid- 
ed toward his own lines, leaving a 
tail of smoke behind him. I had to 
stop him in his attempt to reach 
safety, so, in spite of his wrecked 
motor, I had to attack him again. 
About 200 meters inside our posi- 
tions I overtook him, and fired both 
my guns at him at close range (I 
no longer needed to save my car- 
tridges). At the moment when I 
caught up to him, we passed over 
our trenches and I turned back. I 
could not determine what had be- 
come of him, for I had to save my- 
self now. I flew back, and as I had 
little fuel left, I landed near the vil- 
lage of F. Here I was received by 

103 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

the Division Staff and was told 
what had become of the Englishman. 
To my joy, I learned that, immedi- 
ately after I had left him, he had 
come to earth near the English posi- 
tions. The trenches are only a hun- 
dred meters apart at this place. One 
of the passengers, the pilot, it seems, 
jumped out and ran to the English 
trenches. He seems to have escaped, 
in spite of the fact that our infantry 
fired at him. Our field artillery 
quickly opened fire on his machine, 
and among the first shots one struck 
it and set it afire. The other avia- 
tor, probably the pilot, who was 
either dead or severely wounded, 
was burned up with the machine. 
Nothing but the skeleton of the air- 
plane remains. As my helpers did 
104 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

not come till late, I rode to D. in the 
Division automobile, because I had 
to be with the King of Bavaria at 
5 : 30. From D. I went directly on to 
Lille. King and Crown Prince both 
conversed with me for quite a while, 
and they were especially pleased at 
my most recent success. Once home, 
I began to see the black side of be- 
ing a hero. Everyone congratulates 
you. All ask you questions. I shall 
soon be forced to carry a printed in- 
terrogation sheet with me with ans- 
wers all filled out. I was par- 
ticularly pleased by my ninth suc- 
cess, because it followed so close on 
the Pour le merite, 

S., Maech 16, 1916 

Since March 11th I am here in S. 

As the lines near Verdun have all 

105 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

been pushed ahead, we were too far 
in the rear. We saw nothing of the 
enemy aviators; the reports came 
too late, so that we were not as time- 
ly as formerly. Therefore, they let 
me pick out a place nearer the lines. 
I chose a good meadow. I am en- 
tirely independent; have an automo- 
bile of my own, also a motor truck, 
and command of a non-commissioned 
oflScer and fifteen men. We are so 
near the front that we can see every 
enemy airplane that makes a flight 
in our vicinity. In the first days of 
our stay here, I had good luck. The 
weather was good on March 12th. 
We had a lot to do. I started about 
eleven to chase two French Farman 
biplanes, who were circling around 
over L'homme mort. By the time I 
106 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

arrived there were four of them. I 
waited for a good chance, and as 
soon as two of them crossed our 
front I went for the upper one. 
There now ensued a pretty little 
game. The two Frenchmen stuck 
together like brothers; but I would 
not let go of the one I had tackled 
first. The second Frenchman, on his 
part, tried to stick behind me. It 
was a fine game. The one I was at- 
tacking twisted and spiralled to es- 
cape. I got him from behind and 
forced him to the 500-meter level. 
I was very close to him and quite 
surprised that he had stopped his 
twisting; but just as I was about to 
give him the finishing shots, my ma- 
chine gun stopped. I had pressed 
down too hard on the trigger 
107 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

mechanism, in the heat of the bat- 
tle, and this had jammed. The sec- 
ond Frenchman now attacked me, 
and I escaped while I could. The 
second fight took place over our 
lines. The first Frenchman, as I 
learned later, had gotten his share. 
He was just able to glide to the 
French side of the Meuse, and here 
he landed, according to some re- 
ports; others say he fell. I am in- 
clined to believe the former, but 
probably he could not pick a good 
spot in which to land, and so- broke 
his machine. - From Lieutenant E. 
I heard that the machine, as well as 
an automobile, that came to its aid, 
were set afire by our artillery. I 
learned further details from Lieu- 
tenant B. After landing, one of the 
108 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

aviators ran to the village, returned 
with a stretcher and helped carry 
the other one away. Things seem to 
have happened like this : I wounded 
the pilot; he was just able to make 
a landing; then, with the aid of his 
observer, he was carried off, and our 
artillery destroyed his machine. 

On the following day, the 13th, 
there w^as again great aerial activity. 
Early in the morning I came just in 
time to see a French battleplane at- 
tack a German above Forf Douau- 
mont. I went for the Frenchman 
and chased him away — it was beau- 
tiful to see him go. In the after- 
noon, I saw a French squadron fly- 
ing above L'homme mort, toward D. 
I picked out one of them and went 
for him. It was a Voisin biplane, 
109 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

that lagged somewhat behind the rest. 
As I was far above him, I overtook 
him rapidly and attacked him be- 
fore he fully realized the situation. 
As soon as he did, he turned to cross 
back over the French front. I at- 
tacked him strongly, and he tilted to 
the right and disappeared under me. 
I thought he was falling; turned to 
keep him in sight, and, to my sur- 
prise, saw that the machine had 
righted itself. Again I went for 
him, and saw a very strange sight. 
The observer had climbed out of his 
seat and was on the left plane, hold- 
ing to the struts. He looked fright- 
ened, and it was really a sorry plight 
to be in. He was defenseless, and I 
hesitated to shoot at him. I had evi- 
dently put their controls out of com- 
110 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

mission, and the machine had fallen. 
To right it, the observer had climbed 
out on the plane and restored its 
equilibrimn. I fired a few more 
shots at the pilot, when I was at- 
tacked by a second Frenchman, com- 
ing to the rescue of his comrade. As 
I had only a few shots left and was 
above the enemy's line, I turned 
back. The enemy 'plane glided on a 
little distance after I left, but finally 
fell from a low altitude. It is lying 
in plain sight, in front of our posi- 
tions east of the village of D. 

We have now spoiled the French- 
men's fun. On March 14th I again 
attacked one of their battleplanes, 
and it seemed in a great hurry to 
get away from me. I accompanied 
him a little way, playing the music 
111 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK ' 

with my machine gun. He descend- \ 

ed behind Fort M., as reported later ^ 

by our soldiers. ] 

March 17, 1916 I 

Last evening I was invited to dine 
with the Crown Prince. It was very ; 
pleasant. He does not value eti- 
quette, and is very unassuming and \ 
natural. He pumped all possible in- ; 
formation out of me, as he himself \ 
admitted later. We had quite a i 
long talk, and on my taking leave i 
he said he would wish for me that 
I would soon bring down the twelfth 
enemy. 

S., March 21, 1916 | 

Twelve and thirteen followed close | 

on each other. As the weather was ' 
fine, we had a lot to do every day. 
On the 19th I was flying toward D., 

112 \ 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

in the afternoon, to get two Far- 
mans, who were cruising around be- 
hind their front. About 12 : 45 I saw 
bombs bursting on the west side of 
the Meuse. I came just in time to 
see the enemy flying back over his 
own lines. I thought he had escaped 
me when I saw him turn and start 
for one of our biplanes. That was 
bad for him, because I got the 
chance to attack him from above. 
As soon as he saw me, he tried to 
escape by steep spirals, firing at me 
at the same time. 

But no one who is as frightened as 
he w^as ever hits anything. I never 
fired unless certain of my aim, and 
so filled him with well-placed shots. 
I had come quite close to him, when 
I saw him suddenly upset ; one wing 
113 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

broke off, and his machine gradually 
separated, piece by piece. As there 
was a south wind, we had drifted 
over our positions, and he fell into 
our trenches. Pilot and observer 
were both killed. I had hit the pilot 
a number of times, so that death was 
instantaneous. The infantry sent us 
various things found in the enemy 
'plane, among them a machine gun 
and an automatic camera. The pic- 
tures were developed, and showed 
our artillery positions. 

This morning I started at 9 : 50, as 
our anti-aircraft guns were firing at 
a Farman biplane above Cote de 

. The enemy was flying back 

and forth in the line Oh — to Ch — . 

At 10:10 I was above him, as well 

as another Farman, flying above M. 

114 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

As the Parman again approached 
our position, I started to attack him. 
The anti-aircraft guns were also 
firing, but I imagine they were only 
finding the range, since their shots 
did not come near the Frenchman. 
At the moment when the one Par- 
man turned toward the south, I 
started for the other, who was flying 
somewhat lower. He saw me com- 
ing, and tried to avoid an engage- 
ment by spiral glides. As he flew 
very cleverly, it was some time be- 
fore I got within range. At an 
altitude of five or six hundred me- 
ters I opened fire, while he was still 
trying to reach his own lines. But 
in pursuing him, I had come within 
two hundred meters of the road 
from M. to Ch., so I broke off the 
115 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

attack. My opponent gave his en- 
gine gas (I could plainly see the 
smoke of his exhaust) and flew 
away toward the southeast. The suc- 
cess I had two hours later reim- 
bursed me for this failure. In the 
morning, at about eleven o'clock, I 
saw a German biplane in battle with 
a Farman west of O. I swooped 
down on the Farman from behind, 
while another Fokker came to our 
aid from above. In the meantime, I 
had opened fire on the Farman (who 
had not seen me at all) at a range 
of eighty meters. As I had come 
from above, at a steep angle, I had 
soon overtaken him. In the very 
moment as I was passing over him 
he exploded. The cloud of black 
smoke blew around me. It was no 
116 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

battle at all; he had. fallen in the 
shortest possible time. It was a tre- 
mendous spectacle : to see the enemy 
burst into flames and fall to earth, 
slowly breaking to pieces. 

The reports that I have been 
wounded in the head, arms, neck, 
legs, or abdomen, are all foolish. 
Probably the people who are always 
inquiring about me, will now dis- 
credit such rumors. 

April 29, 1916 
Thursday morning, at nine, as I 
arrived in S., after a short trip to 
Germany, two Frenchmen appeared 
— the first seen in the last four 
weeks. . I quickly rode out to the 
field, but came too late. I saw one 
of our biplanes bring one of the ene- 
IIT 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

mies to earth; the other escaped. I 
flew toward the front at Verdun, and 
came just in time for a little scrape. 
Three Frenchmen had crossed over 
our lines and been attacked by a 
Fokker, who got into difficulties, and 
had to retreat. I came to his aid; 
attacked one of the enemy, and pep- 
pered him properly. The whole 
bunch then took to their heels. But 
I did not let my friend escape so 
easily. He twisted and turned, fly- 
ing with great cleverness. I attack- 
ed him three times from the rear, 
and once diagonally in front. Fin- 
ally, he spiralled steeply, toppled 
over and flew for a while with the 
wheels up. Then he dropped. Ac- 
cording to reports from the Re- 
serve Division, he fell in the woods 
118 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

southwest of v., after turning over 
twice more. That was number 14. 



S., May 9, 1916 
On May 1st I saw an enemy bi- 
plane above the ^^Pfefferriicken," 
as I was standing at our landing 
station. I started at once, and over- 
took him at 1,500 meters altitude. It 
seems he did not see me. I attacked 
from above and behind, and greeted 
him with the usual machine-gun fire. 
He quickly turned and attacked me. 
But this pleasure did not last long 
for him. I quickly had him in a 
bad way, and made short work of 
him. After a few more twists and 
turns my fire began to tell, and final- 
ly he fell. I then flew home, satis- 
fied that I had accomplished my 
119 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

task. The whole thing only lasted 
about two minutes. 

June 2, 1916 
On the 17th of May we had a good 
day. One of our scout 'planes want- 
ed to take some pictures near Ver- 
dun, and I was asked to protect it. I 

met him above the Cote de and 

flew with him at a great altitude. 
He worked without being disturbed, 
and soon turned back without hav- 
ing been fired at. On the way back, 
I saw bombs bursting at Douaumont 
and flew over to get a closer view. 
There were four or five other Ger- 
man biplanes there; I also noticed 
several French battleplanes at a dis- 
tance. I kept in the background and 
watched our opponents. I saw a 
Nieuport attack one of our ma- 
120 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

cMnes, so I went for him and I 
almost felt I had him ; but my speed 
was too great, and I shot past him. 
He then made off at great speed; I 
behind him. Several times I was 
very near him, and fired, but he flew 
splendidly. I followed him for a 
little while longer, but he did not 
appreciate this. Meanwhile, the other 
French battleplanes had come up, 
and started firing at me. I flew back 
over our lines and waited for them 
there. One, who was much higher 
than the rest, came and attacked me ; 
we circled around several times and 
then he flew away. I was so far be- 
low him that it was hard to attack 
him at all. But I could not let him 
deprive me of the pleasure of fol- 
lowing him for a while. During this 
m 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

tilt, I dropped from 4,000 meters to 
a height of less than 2,000. Our bi- 
planes had also drifted downward. 

Suddenly, at an altitude of 4,700 
meters, I saw eight of the enemy's 
Caudrons. I could hardly believe 
my eyes ! They were flying in pairs, 
as if attached to strings, in perfect 
line. They each had two engines, 
and were flying on the line Meuse- 
Douaumont. It was a shame ! Now, 
I had to climb to their altitude 
again. So I stayed beneath a pair of 
them and tried to get at them. But, 
as they were flying so high and 
would not come down toward me, I 
had no success. Shortly before they 
were over our kite-balloons they 
turned. So fifteen or twenty min- 
utes passed. Finally I reached their 
122 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

height. I attacked from below, and 
tried to give them something to re- 
member me by, but they paid no at- 
tention to me, and flew home. Just 

then, above Cote de -, I saw two 

more Oaudrons appear, and, thank 
goodness, they were below me. I 
flew toward them, but they were al- 
ready across the Meuse. Just in 
time, I looked up, and saw a Nieu- 
port and a Caudron coming down 
toward me. I attacked the more 
dangerous opponent first, and so flew 
straight toward the Nieuport. We 
passed each other firing, but neither 
of us were hit. I was only striving 
to protect myself. When flying to- 
ward each other, it is very difficult 
to score a hit because of the com^ 
bined speed of the two craft. I 
123 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

quickly turned and followed close 
behind the enemy. Then the other 
Caudron started to manoeuver the 
same way, only more poorly than 
the Nieuport. I followed him, and 
was just about to open fire when a 
Pokker came to my aid, and attack- 
ed the Caudron. As we were well 
over the French positions, the latter 
glided, with the Fokker close behind 
him. The Nieuport saw this, and 
came to the aid of his hard-pressed 
companion; I in turn followed the 
Meuport. It was a peculiar posi- 
sion: below, the fleeing Caudron; 
behind him, the Fokker; behind the 
Fokker, the Nieuport, and I, last of 
all, behind the Nieuport. We ex- 
changed shots merrily. Finally the 
Fokker let the Caudron go, and the 
124 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Nieuport stopped chasing the Fok- 
ker. I fired my last shots at the 
Nieuport and went home. The whole 
farce lasted over an hour. We had 
worked hard, but without visible 
success. At least, the Fokker (who 
turned out to be Althaus) and I had 
dominated the field. 

On the 18th of May I got Number 
16, Toward evening I went up and 
found our biplanes everywhere 
around Verdun. I felt superfluous 
there, so went off for a little trip. I 
wanted to have a look at the Cham- 
pagne district once more, and flew to 
A. and back. Everywhere there was 
peace : on earth as well as in the air. 
I only saw one airplane, in the dis- 
tance at A. On my way back I had 
the good luck to see two bombs 
125 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

bursting at M., and soon saw a 
Caudron near me. The Frenchman 
had not seen me at all. He was on 
his way home, and suspected noth- 
ing. As he made no move to attack 
or escape, I kept edging closer with- 
out firing. When I was about fifty 
meters away from them, and could 
see both passengers plainly, I start- 
ed a well-aimed fire. He immedi- 
ately tilted and tried to escape below 
me, but I was so close to him it was 
too late. I fired quite calmly. After 
about 150 shots I saw his left engine 
smoke fiercely and then burst into 
flame. The machine turned over, 
buckled, and burned up. It fell like 
a plummet into the French second line 
trenches, and continued to burn there. 
On May 20th I again went for a 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

little hunting trip in the Champagne 
district, and attacked a Farman 
north of V. I went for him behind 
his own lines, and he immediately 
started to land. In spite of this, I 
followed him, because his was the 
only enemy machine in sight. I 
stuck to him and fired, but he would 
not fall. The pilot of a Farman ma- 
chine is well protected by the motor, 
which is behind him. Though you 
can kill the observer, and riddle the 
engine and tanks, they are always 
able to escape by gliding. But in 
this case, I think I wounded the 
pilot also, because the machine made 
the typical lengthwise tilt that shows 
it is out of control. But as the fight 
was too far behind the French front, 
I flew home. 

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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

The next day I again had tangible 
results. In the afternoon I flew on 
both sides of the Meuse. On the 
French side two French battleplanes 
were flying at a great altitude; I 
could not reach them. I was about 
to turn back, and was gliding over 
L'homme mort, when I saw two 
Caudrons below me, who had es- 
caped my observation till then. I 
went after them, but they immedi- 
ately flew off. I followed, and at a 
distance of 200 meters, attacked the 
one; at that very instant I saw a 
Nieuport coming toward me. I was 
anxious to give him something to 
remember me by, so I let the Caud- 
rons go and flew due north. The 
Nieuport came after me, thinking I 
had not seen him. I kept watching 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

liim until tie was about 200 meters 
away. Then I quickly turned my 
machine and flew toward him. He 
was frightened by this, turned his 
machine and flew south. By my at- 
tack, I had gained about 100 meters, 
so that at a range of 100 to 150 me- 
ters, I could fill his fuselage with 
shots. He made work easy for me 
by flying in a straight line. Besides, 
I had along ammunition by means 
of which I could determine the path 
of my shots. My opponent com- 
menced to get unsteady, but I could 
not follow him till he fell. Not until 
evening did I learn from a staff of- 
ficer that the infantry at L'homme 
mort had reported the fall of the 
machine. In the evening, I went out 
again, without any particular ob- 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

jective, and after a number of false 
starts I had some success. I was 

flying north of Bois de , when 

I saw a Frenchman flying about. I 
made believe I was flying away, and 
the Frenchman was deceived by my 
ruse and came after me, over our 
positions. Now I swooped down on 
him with tremendous speed (I was 
much higher than he). He turned, 
but could not escape me. Close be- 
hind the French lines, I caught up 
with him. He was foolish enough 
to fly straight ahead, and I pounded 
him with a continuous stream of 
well-placed shots. I kept this up till 
he caught fire. In the midst of this 
he exploded, collapsed, and fell to 
earth. As he fell, one wing broke 
off. So, in one day, I had gotten 
Numbers 17 and 18. 
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LEAVE OF ABSENCE 



131 



LEAVE OF ABSENCE 

July 4, 1916 
I was at S. collecting all the equip- 
ment of my division. As all the au- 
thorities helped me quickly and well, 
I was ready to move on June 30th. 
Imagine my bad luck: just on this 
very day I was destined to make my 
exit from the stage. It was like this : 
Near Verdun there was not much 
to do in the air. Scouting had been 
almost dropped. One day, when 
there was a little more to do than 
usual, I had gone up twice in the 
morning and was loafing around on 
the field. I suddenly heard machine- 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

gun firing in the air and saw a Nieu- 
port attacking one of our biplanes. 
The German landed and told me, all 
out of breath: 

*^The devil is loose on the front. 
Six Americans are up. I could 
plainly see the American flag on the 
fuselage. They were quite bold; 
came all the way across the front." 

I didn't imagine things were quite 
so bad, and decided to go up and 
give the Americans a welcome. They 
were probably expecting it; polite- 
ness demanded it. I really met them 
above the Meuse. They were flying 
back and forth quite gaily, close 
together. I flew toward them, and 
greeted the first one with my ma- 
chine gun. He seemed to be quite 
a beginner; at any rate, I had no 
134 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

trouble in getting to within 100 me- 
ters of him, and had him well under 
fire. As he was up in the clouds and 
flew in a straight course, I was jus- 
tified in expecting to bring him to 
earth soon. But luck was not with 
me. I had just gotten my machine 
back from the factory, and after 
firing a few shots my gun jammed. 
In vain I tried to remedy the 
trouble. While still bothering with 
my gun the other **five Americans" 
were on me. As I could not fire, I 
preferred to retreat, and the whole 
swarm were after me. I tried to 
speed up my departure by tilting 
my machine to the left and letting 
it drop. A few hundred meters, and 
I righted it. But they still followed. 
I repeated the manoeuver and flew 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

home, little pleased but unharmed. 
I only saw that the Americans were 
again flying where I had found 
them.* This angered me and I im- 
mediately got into my second ma- 
chine and went off again. I was 
hardly 1,500 meters high when with 
a loud crash my motor broke apart, 
and I had to land in a meadow at 0. 
We made another pretty flight this 
day. The district around B. and 
west of Verdun was to be photo- 
graphed by a scout division. Cap- 
tain V. was to go over with the 
squadron, and asked me to go with 
two other Fokkers to protect them. 
I went with them, and as I kept 

♦ The result of this was that the English wireless 
news service asserted the next day: "Yesterday Adju- 
tant Ribifere succeeded in bringing down the famous 
Captain Bolcke in an air battle at Verdun." In the 
meantime I have relieved him of this misapprehension. 

136 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

close to them, I was right at hand 
when two French battleplanes at- 
tacked. The first one did not ap- 
proach very close, but the second 
attacked the biplane which carried 
Captain V. As he was just then en- 
gaged in looking through his binoc- 
ulars, he did not see the machine 
approach. The pilot, also, did not 
notice it till the last moment. Then 
he made such a sharp turn that 
Captain V. almost fell out. I came 
to their aid; the Frenchman started 
to run. I could hardly aim at him 
at all, he flew in such sharp curves 
and zigzags. At 1,800 meters' ele- 
vation, I fired a few parting shots 
and left him. I was sure he would 
not do us any more harm. As one 
of the wires to a spark-plug had 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

broken, my engine was not running 
right, so I turned and went home. 
The squadron had all the time in 
the world to take photographs, and 
was quite satisfied with results. The 
machine I had attacked was first re- 
ported as having fallen, but later 
this was denied. 

Now came the extremely sad news 
of Immelmann's death. One evening 
we received word he had fallen. I 
first thought it was one of the usual 
rumors, but, to my deep sorrow, it 
was later confirmed by staff officers. 
They said his body was being taken 
to Dresden. I, therefore, immedi- 
ately asked for leave to fly to D. 

It Y/as very impressive. Immel- 
mann lay in the courtyard of a hos- 
pital, on a wonderful bier. Every- 
138 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

where there were pedestals with 
torches burning on them. 

Immelmann lost his life through a 
foolish accident. Everything the pa- 
pers write about a battle in the air 
is nonsense. A part of his propeller 
broke off and, due to the jerk, the 
wire braces of the fuselage snapped. 
The fuselage then broke off. Aside 
from the great personal loss we have 
suffered, I feel the moral effect of 
his death on the enemy is not to be 
underrated. 

I made good use of my chance, to 
again attack the English at D. I 
liked it so well, I kept postponing 
my return to S. One evening I flew 
a Halberstadt biplane; this was the 
first appearance of these machines 
at the front. As it is somewhat sim- 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

ilar to an English B. E., I succeeded 
in completely fooling an English- 
man. I got to within fifty meters of 
him and fired a number of shots at 
him. But as I was flying quite rap- 
idly, and was not as familiar with 
the new machine as with the Pok- 
ker, I did not succeed in hitting him 
right away. I passed beneath him, 
and he turned and started to de- 
scend. I followed him, but my car- 
tridge belt jammed and I could not 
fire. I turned away, and before I had 
repaired the damage he was gone. 

The next day I had two more op- 
portunities to attack Englishmen. 
The first time, it was a squadron of 
six Vickers' machines. I started as 
they were over L., and the other 
Pokkers from D. went with me. As 

140 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

I had the fastest machine, I was first 
to reach the enemy. I picked out 
one and shot at him, with good re- 
sults; his motor (behind the pilot) 
puffed out a great quantity of yel- 
low smoke. I thought he would fall 
any moment, but he escaped by glid- 
ing behind his own line. According 
to the report of our infantry, he was 
seen to land two kilometers behind 
the front. I could not finish him en- 
tirely, because my left gun had run 
out of ammunition, and the right 
one had jammed. In the meantime, 
the other Fokkers had reached the 
English. I saw one 160-horsepower 
machine (Mulzer, pilot,) attack an 
Englishman in fine style, but as the 
Englishman soon received aid, I had 
to come to Mulzer 's rescue. So I 
141 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

drove the one away from Mulzer; 
my enemy did not know I was un- 
able to fire at him. Mulzer saw and 
recognized me, and again attacked 
briskly. To my regret, he had only 
the same success I had had a while 
before, and as Mulzer turned to go 
home, I did likewise. In the after- 
noon, I again had a chance at an 
Englishman, but he escaped in the 
clouds. 

Meanwhile, the Crown Prince had 
telephoned once, and our staff officer 
several times, for me to return. I 
had at first said I would wait for 
better weather, so they finally told 
me to take the train back if it was 
poor weather. So I saw it was no 
use, and the next morning I flew 
back to S. Here I found a telegram 
U2 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

for me: *^ Captain Bolcke is to re- 
port at once to the Commander-in- 
Chief of the Aerial Division. He is 
to be at the disposal of the Com- 
mander-in-Chief of the Army." My 
joy was great, for I expected to be 
sent to the Second Army, where the 
English offensive was just begin- 
ning. In the afternoon I reported 
to the Crown Prince, and there I be- 
gan to have doubts, for he left me 
in the dark as to my future. On the 
next day I reported to the Chief of 
the Aerial Division at C, and here 
all my expectations were proven un- 
founded. For the present, I was not 
to fly, but was to rest at C. for my 
' ' nerves. ' ' You can imagine my rage. 
I was to stay at a watering-place in 
C. and gaze into the sky. If I had 
143 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

any wish I just needed to express it, 
only I was not to fly. You can im- 
agine my rage. When I saw that I 
could do nothing against this de- 
cision, I resolved that rather than 
stay at C. I would go on leave of 
absence, and at this opportunity see 
the other fronts. After I telephoned 
Wilhelm (who was glad rather than 
sorry for me), my orders were 
changed to read: '^Captain Bolcke 
is to leave for Turkey and other 

countries at the request of ." 

Even though this was nothing that 
replaced my work, it was, at least, a 
balm for my wounded feelings. I 
immediately went to S. to pack my 
things and use the remaining two 
days to fly as much as possible. I 
flew twice that night, because I had 
144 




Q 
O 

O 



r4) 



wm 



Si. 



:^mm 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

to utilize the time. In spite of 
bad weather, I had the luck to meet 
five Frenchmen the second time I 
went up. One came within range 
and I attacked him. He was quite 
low and above his own trenches, but 
in my present frame of mind that 
did not matter to me. I flew toward 
him, firing both guns, flew over him, 
turned and started to attack him 
again, but found him gone. It was 
very dark by then. When I got 
home I asked if anyone had seen 
him fall, but no one knew anything 
definite. 

The next day the weather was bad, 
and I flew over to Wilhelm to talk 
over several things and bid him fare- 
well. Picture my surprise, when, I 
read in the afternoon's wireless re- 

145 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

ports: *^ Yesterday an enemy ma- 
chine was brought down near Douau- 
mont." This could only have been 
my enemy, because, on account of 
the bad weather, I was the only Ger- 
man who had gone up at that part 
of the front. I immediately called 
up the staff officer, and he said yes, 
it had been a Fokker, yesterday eve- 
ning, that had brought down the 
Frenchman, but no one knew who 
was flying the Fokker. I told him 
the time, place, and other circum- 
stances, and he seemed very sur- 
prised, and forbid me any further 
flight. He proceeded to make further 
inquiries. The next morning the 
further surprising details arrived: 
The enemy airplane that had been 
attacked above our first line trenches 
146 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

had fallen in our lines because of 
heavy south winds. That was very 
fine for me. Now, my departure 
from the front was not so bad, be- 
cause I had brought down another 
enemy and so had put a stop to any 
lies the enemy might start about me. 
The others, my helpers, friends, etc., 
were well pleased. To put a stop to 
any more such breaks of discipline, 
they made me go direct to Ch. It 
pleased me that I could make four 
of my mechanics corporals before I 
left. Three of them got the Iron 
Cross. In Ch. I had to quickly make 
my final preparations, get my passes, 
etc., for my trip, and now I am on 
the way, Dessau-Berlin. On the day 
I left I had breakfast with the 
Kaiser, and he greeted me with: 
147 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

^*Well, well; we have you in leash 
now." 

It is funny that everyone is pleased 
to see me cooped up for a while. 
The sorriest part of all is that I am 
forced to take this leave just at a 
time when the English offensive is 
developing unprecedented aerial ac- 
tivity. 

Vienna, July 8, 1916 
Several incidents happened just 
before I left Berlin. My train was 
scheduled to leave the Zoo at 8 : 06. 
A half hour before my departure I 
noticed that my ^^Pour le merite" 
was missing. I could not think of 
leaving without it. I rode to get 
it; it had been left in my civilian 
clothes, but my valet had already 
148 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

taken these. Of course, there was 
no auto in sight, so I had to take a 
street car, though I was in a hurry. 
My valet was, in the meantime, 
packing my things up. The result 
was that I got to the station just as 
the train was pulling out. At the 
same time the valet was at the sta- 
tion at Priedrichstrasse with all the 
luggage. After riding around a 
while we met again at our house. 
Fischer was trembling like a leaf, 
for he thought it was all his fault. 
I immediately changed my plan, for 
the days till the start of the next 
Balkan train had to be utilized; so 
I decided on a flight to headquarters 
in Vienna and Budapest. I had 
the Aerial Division announce my 
coming to Vienna, and left that 
149 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

night 'from the Anhalt Station. As 
companion, I had a Bohemian Coal 
Baron, who had only given 30,000,000 
marks for war loans; he was very 
pleasant. Except for a few attacks 
by autograph collectors, the trip was 
eventless. In Tetschen, at the border, 
I was relieved of the bother of cus- 
toms officials through the kindness 
of an Austrian officer. It was the 
lasting grief of my companion that 
he had to submit to the customs in 
spite of all the letters of recom- 
mendation he had. 

July 7, 1916 
In Vienna I was met by a brother 
aviator at the station. He took me 
to the Commander-in-Chief of their 
Aviation Division, who very kindly 
gave me a comrade as guide, and 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

placed an auto at my disposal. The 
same morning I rode to Pischamend. 
As it was Sunday, I could not do 
anything in a military way, and so 
toward evening my guide and I took 
a trip through Vienna, and I let him 
point out the spots of interest to me. 

July 10, 1916 
Early in the morning we were on 
the aviation field at Aspern, which 
is somewhat like Adlershof . Here I 
saw some very interesting machines ; 
for the first time I saw an Italian 
Caproni. Also, I was shown a 
French machine, in which a crazy 
Frenchman tried to fly from Nancy 
to Russia, via Berlin. He almost 
succeeded. They say he got as far 
as the east front, and was brought 
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AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

down there after flying almost ten 
hours. They said he was over Ber- 
lin at 12:30 at night. Then there 
were some very peculiar-looking 
Austrian 'planes. 

In the afternoon I reported to the 
Colonel, who advised me to see the 
flying in the mountains near Trient 
on my way back from the Balkans. 
I do not know yet whether or not I 
will be able to do this ; it all depends 
on time and circumstances. 

In the late afternoon I went up on 
the Kahlenberg to see Vienna from 
there. I took the trip with a man 
and his wife, whom I had met on the 
train. They seemed very pleased at 
having my company, and lost no op- 
portunity to tell me this. To add to 
my discomflture, a reporter inter- 
152 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

viewed me on the way back; he was 
the first I have met so far. The fel- 
low had heard by chance that I was 
in Vienna and had followed me for 
two days. He sat opposite me on the 
inclined railway and I had a lot of 
fun keeping him guessing. He was 
very disappointed that he had no 
success with me, but finally consoled 
himself with the thought of having 
spoken with me. In the evening I 
strolled around Vienna — the city 
makes a much quieter impression 
than Berlin. One feels that Vienna 
is more a quiet home town than a 
modern city. 

July 11, 1916 
To avoid the dreary railroad jour- 
ney from Vienna to Budapest, I am 
153 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

taking the steamer, and will catch 
the Balkan train at Budapest. In 
that way I will see and enjoy the 
scenery much more. Even if the 
trip cannot compare with one on the 
Ehine, it is still very beautiful. To 
Pressburg the country is hilly; then 
it is flat country, with trees, and 
often forests, on the banks. On the 
trip a twelve-year-old boy recog- 
nized my face and would not leave 
me after that. He was a very amus- 
ing chap; knew almost the dates of 
the days on which I had brought 
down my various opponents. The 
worst thing he knew of, so he 
told me, was that his aunt did not 
even know who Immelmann was. At 
Komorn the character of the Danube 
changes completely. The meadows 
154 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

on the right disappear, and hills 
take their place. The left bank is 
still rather flat. Prom Grau, where 
I photographed the beautiful St. 
Johann's Church, to Waitzen, the 
country resembles the Ehine Valley 
very much. From Waitzen to Buda- 
pest, the country is level, but in the 
distance one can see wooded hills and 
the city of Budapest, over which the 
sun was just setting as we arrived. 
The most beautiful of all, is Buda- 
pest itself. It makes a very imposing 
impression; to the left, the palace 
and the old castle; to the right, the 
hotels and public buildings; above 
all, the Parliament Building. 

July 12, 1916 
Slept real late and then walked to 
155 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

the castle, where I got a bird's-eye 
view of the city. 

In the afternoon I took a wagon 
and rode with Lieutenant P. through 
Of en to the Margareten Island. We 
passed the Parliament and went to 
the city park, where we ate a lot of 
cake at Kugler's. Prom there we 
walked to the docks. The evening, I 
spent with some Germans. 

Budapest makes a very modern 
impression; some of the women are 
ultra-modern. 

July 13, 1916 

Slept while passing through Bel- 
grade. Woke up in the middle of 
Servia, while passing a station where 
music was playing. Eode along the 
Morave Valley; it is wide and 
flanked with hills. There are many 
156 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

cornfields and meadows, with cows 
grazing. From Msch (a city of low 
houses) we passed through a small 
valley bordered with high, rocky, 
hills. Along the Bulgarian Morave, 
Pirot (Bulgaria), the district be- 
comes a plateau, with mountains in 
the distance. The country is very 
rocky, and there is very little farm- 
ing. The nearer you get to Sofia the 
more the country becomes farm land. 
Finally, it merges into a broad level 
plain, with the Balkans in the back- 
ground. Sofia: a small station, and 
small houses. It was getting dark. 

July 14, 1916 
Slept through Adrianople on my 
way to Turkey. Passed through the 
customs. 

157 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Country: Mountainous; little de- 
veloped; no trees, but now and then 
villages, with a few little houses, 
thatched with straw, and scattered. 
For little stretches the country is 
covered with bushes. Most of the 
country is uncultivated, but here 
and there you see a corn or potato 
field. 

The railroad is a one-track affair, 
with very few sidings. Service very 
poor now, due to the war ; long waits 
at the stations. 

The people are poorly clothed, with 
gaudy sashes and queer headpieces. 
Just at present they are celebrating 
some fast days. 

The women work like the men, but 
always have a cloth wrapped around 
their heads. We met a military 
158 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

transport; the men are brown and 
healthy looking. Their whole equip- 
ment seemed German in origin. 

Near the ocean, the farming is 
carried on on a large scale. 

At the Bay of Kutshuk, I saw 
camels grazing, for the first time. 

The ocean itself seemed brown, 
green, violet — all colors. At the 
shore people were swimming, and 
there were two anti-aircraft guns 
mounted. 

St. Stefano is an Oriental town 
in every sense of the word. At the 
shore there are neat little European 
houses. Here, there is a wireless sta- 
tion, etc., just as in Johannistal. 

Then came Constantinople. From 
the train, you cannot see much; 
mostly old, dirty houses, that look as 
159 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

if they were ready to topple over at 
the first puff of wind. 

At the station, I was met by sev- 
eral German aviators, and taken to 
the hotel. 

The evening, I spent with some 
officers and a number of gentlemen 
from the German Embassy. 

July 15, 1916 
Early in the morning I rode to the 
Great Headquarters and reported to 
Enver Pasha, who personally gave 
me the Iron Crescent. Enver, who is 
still young, impressed me as a very 
agreeable, energetic, man. Then I 
went through the Bazar, with an in- 
terpreter. This is a network of 
streets, alleys and loopholes, in which 
everything imaginable is sold. Then 
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Ready for the Start 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

went to the Agia Sofia, the largest 
mosque, and to the Sultan Ahmed, 
which has been changed to a bar- 
racks. 

In the afternoon I went to the 
General (the ship on which the Ger- 
man naval officers live). In the eve- 
ning we were in the Petit Champ, 
a little garden in which a German 
naval band played. 

My valet amuses me. He is very 
unhappy, because he cannot feel at 
home, and is being cheated right and 
left by the people. He had pictured 
Turkey to be an entirely different 
sort of a place. He was very indig- 
nant because the merchants start at 
three o'clock, at night, to go through 
the streets selling their wares. 



161 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

July 16, 1916 
In the morning I went out to the 
General with Lieutenant H. to see 
a U-boat. 

In the afternoon, a Greek funeral 
passed the hotel. The cover of the 
coffin is carried ahead and the corpse 
can be seen in the coffin. 

Later, I wandered around in Ga- 
lata and saw the Sultan, who was 
just coming out of a mosque. First, 
mounted policemen came ; then there 
was a mounted bodyguard; then ad- 
jutant; then the Sultan in a coach 
with four horses ; then the same reti- 
nue again, in reverse order. 

July 17, 1916 
This morning, I at last had a 
chance to see something of their 
162 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

aviation. We rode through the city 
in an auto: through Stamboul, 
along the old Byzantine city wall, 
past the cemetery, and a number of 
barracks, through the dreary district 
to St. Stefano, and looked over the 
aviation station there. Here, Major 
S. has made himself quite a neat bit 
out of nothing at all. Naturally, un- 
der present conditions, it is very 
hard for him to get the necessary 
materials of all sorts. 

In the afternoon I was a guest on 
board the General, 

In the afternoon I went with Cap- 
tain D. and other gentlemen, through 
the Bosphorus to Therapia, where 
the German cemetery is wonderfully 
situated. Then we inspected a shoe 
factory at Beikos, and, later, went 
163 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

to the Goeben and Breslau, where I 
had a splendid reception. After a 
brief inspection of both boats, we ate 
supper and enjoyed a concert on 
deck. On leaving, Captain A., com- 
mander of the Goeben, drank a toast 
to me. Who would have believed this 
possible a few years ago. 

July 18, 1916 
To-day I took a pleasure spin on 
the Sea of Marmora, with S.'s ad- 
jutant, and his motorboat. We 
passed the Sultan's palace and went 
to Skutari, where I made a short 
stop. Then we went to the Princes' 
Islands, where we landed at Prince- 
pu. Princepu is to Constantinople 
what Grunewald or Wannsee is to 
Berlin. It is a wonderful island, 
hilly and situated in the middle 
164 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

of the sea. All the wealthy have 
summer homes here, and most of 
Constantinople takes a trip here 
Saturday and Sunday. In the Ca- 
sino, from which there is a beautiful 
view of the sea, we drank coffee. 
Toward evening we reached home, 
after first sailing around the neigh- 
boring islands, on one of which the 
captured defender of Kut-el-Amara 
lives in a very nice villa. 

July 19, 1916 
At nine, we left for Panderma. 
The Sea of Marmora was quite 
calm ; at first there were some waves, 
but later it was very still. The ship 
was filled with natives; quite a few 
women, and some ofiicers. Pander- 
ma: a small seaport (many small 
165 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK i 

sail-boats), situated at the foot of a I 
mountain, and made up, mostly, of \ 
small frame houses. We were met i 
by small government vessels, while ] 
the others were taken off by native j 
boats. After a short wait, we start- j 
ed our trip in a Pullman car (the 
train was made up specially for us). 
As far as Manias Gor the country is 
monotonous; a few boats on the sea, 
and quite a few storks. In the Sur- 
sulu-Su Valley there are more vil- 
lages, well-built, meadows, fruit 
trees, and large herds of oxen and 
flocks of sheep. A good road runs 
next to the railroad. Then it be- 
came dark. Slept well after a good 
supper. 



166 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

July 20, 1916 
Woke up south of Akbissal. Coun- 
try very pretty, cultivated and fer- 
tile, with many herds of cattle; 
caravans of camel, with a mule as 
leader. 

The plains became more pretty as 
we went on. Smyrna is beautifully 
situated. At the station I met Bud- 
decke and several other men. I got 
a room in the Hotel Kramer, right 
at the sea. From my balcony I have 
a view over the whole Gulf of 
Smyrna. In the afternoon, I took a 
walk after reporting to His Excel- 
lency Liman-Sanders. Went through 
the Bazar, which is not so large as 
in Stamboul. 



167 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

July 21, 1916 
At ten we went to the aviation 
field at Svedi Kos, south of Smyrna. 
The aviators live in a school. Close 
to the field there are the tents of a 
division. The Turkish soldiers made 
a good impression. 

July 22, 1916 
In the morning went swimming 
at Cordelio, with several ladies and 
gentlemen. Buddecke met us with 
a yacht. We had a fine sail. The 
view of the hills from the gulf was 
beautiful. 

July 23, 1916 
In the morning, again went to 
Cordelio for a swim, and took some 
jolly pictures. 

168 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

July 24, 1916 
Slept late. In tlie afternoon took 
a sail with several gentlemen to the 
future landing spot for seaplanes. 

July 25, 1916 

In the morning I strolled about 

alone in the outlying parts of 

Smyrna. Here, things look much 

more ^* oriental." 

Now I have to take the long trip 
to Constantinople via Panderma, 
then to the Dardanelles. I lose eight 
days this way, for which I am ex- 
ceedingly sorry. In an airplane, I 
could make it in two and a half 
hours, but Buddecke will not let me 
have any. He has a thousand and one 
reasons for not giving me one, but I 
believe he has instructions to that 

effect. 

169 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

July 29, 1916 
On July 28tli I went aboard a gun- 
boat bound for Chanak, with a tow. 
Gallipoli is a village, with a number 
of outlying barracks. Several houses 
on the shore were destroyed by gun- 
fire. Arrived in Chanak toward 
noon, and went to Merten-Pasha to 
report. In the afternoon I went to 
the aviation field and flew over 
Troy — Kum Kale — Sedil Bar, to the 
old English position. The flight was 
beautiful, and the islands of Imbros 
and Tenedos were as if floating on 
the clear sea. In the Bay of Imbros 
we could plainly see the English 
ships. Outside of the usual maze of 
trenches we could plainly see the 
old English camps. Close to Thal- 
aka there was an English TJ-Boat 
170 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

and a Turkish cruiser, both sunk, 
and lying partly out of water. At 
Sedil Bar, a number of steamers and 
a French battleship were aground. 
The dead, hilly peninsula was plain- 
ly visible. At Kilid Bar, there were 
large Turkish barracks. 

July 30, 1916 
Went on a small steamer to Sedil 
Bar. We got off a little before we 
reached our destination, to go over 
the whole position with a naval of- 
ficer, who awaited us. The differ- 
ence between the Turkish and Eng- 
lish positions was striking. The 
English, of course, had had more 
and better material to work with. 
Now it is nothing but a deserted 
wreck. Then I looked at the Eng- 
171 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

lish landing places. Here, the Eng- 
lishman had simply run a few steam- 
ers aground to protect themselves. 
After a hasty breakfast, I flew to D. 
with M. and from there, along the 
north shore of the Sea of Marmora, 
to St. Stef ano. 

July 31, 1916 
To-day was Bairam (Turkish 
Easter). Flags everywhere; people 
all dressed in their best; large 
crowds on the street ; sale of crescent 
flowers on the streets, and parades. 

August 1, 1916 
After a short stay in the War De- 
partment and the Bazar, I left for 
Constantinople. Enver Pasha trav- 
els on the same train. He had me 
brought to him by his servant at tea 
17^ 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

time. He was very talkative and 
interesting, and talked almost only 
German. 

August 2, 1916 

Toward eleven o'clock, after an 
enjoyable trip through a well-culti- 
vated section of Rumania, I arrived 
in Sofia, after passing a Turkish 
military train. Here I was received 
by a number of German aviators. 
In the afternoon, took a trip through 
Sofia, which makes the same im- 
pression as one of the central Ger- 
man capitals. Short visit in the 
cadet school, then went to the large 
cathedral. 

August 3, 1916 

The military finish I noticed in 
the cadet school the day before im- 
pressed me favorably. H. and I 
173 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

went to the aviation field in Sofia; 
most of the machines were Ottos. 

In the afternoon, I went to the 
flying school with H. Our guide, 
Captain P., showed us as special at- 
traction a Bleriot, which he had. 
The school is still in the first stages 
of development. From there we went 
to the resort called Banje, which is 
nicely located. 

In the evening, I was at supper 
with a military attache, and met 
Prince Kyrill. He interested me 
very much, and talked quite intel- 
ligently about a number of things. 

August 4, 1916 

Early in the morning, I reported 

to the Bulgarian Secretary of War, 

who conversed with me for a long 

174 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

while. He is small in stature and 
talks German fluently. Then I vis- 
ited a cavalry barracks, where I also 
saw the new machine-gun companies. 
Toward evening I took a stroll in 
the Boris Gardens, and admired the 
beauty of Sofia. 

August 5, 1916 
After an audience with the Bulga- 
rian Chief of Staff, I went to Uskub 
via Kustendil in an auto. Fischer, my 
valet, who was along, had to get out 
en route to make all our train ar- 
rangements. In Kustendil, I stopped 
over, and at the Casino I was with 
the Bulgarian Chief of Staff. Then 
there was an interesting trip to Us- 
kub, where I arrived at nine o'clock. 



175 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

August 6, 1916 
In the afternoon I was with Gen- 
eral Mackensen, and sat next to him 
at the table. Mackensen talked with 
me for quite a while. He is serious- 
looking, but not nearly as stern as his 
pictures lead one to believe. 

Later, I went by train to Hudova, 
and reached aviation headquarters, 
where I was given a fine welcome in 
the barracks. The aviators all live 
in wooden shacks, in a dreary neigh- 
borhood. This is not an enviable 
place to be, especially since they have 
had nothing to do for months. 

August. 7, 1916 

In the morning I paid a visit to 

another division of flyers, and with 

Captain E. I flew up and down the 

176 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Grreek front. Then I went back to 
TJskub, where I spent the night. 

August 8, 1916 
Went back to Sofia in the auto. 
Had several punctures, which were 
really funny, because my Bulgarian 
chauffeur and I could converse by 
sign language only. On the road, 
not far from Kumanova, there was 
a Macedonian fair, which was very 
interesting. The peasants, in white 
clothes, danced an odd but pretty 
dance, to music played on bagpipes 
and other instruments. 

August 9, 1916 

This morning, shortly before I 

left, I received a Bulgarian medal 

for courage. This was presented to 

177 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

me by the adjutant of the Minister 
of War, together with the latter 's 
picture. I am now going to the Aus- 
trian headquarters, from where I 
mean to see the east front. I don't 
know yet how I will get the time. 

August 10, 1916 
In the afternoon, short auto ride; 
in the evening, reported to General 
Conrad. 

August 11, 1916 
Presented myself at Archduke 
Frederick's and met General Cram- 
on, At eleven o'clock, went on to- 
ward Kovel. 

August 12, 1916 
Arrived in Kovel about eight. Re- 
ported to General Linsingen. 
178 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

August 15, 1916 
Rode to Brest, which is gutted by 
fire. 

August 16, 1916 
Reported to General Ludendorff. 
Before eating was presented to Field 
Marshal Hindenburg. At table, sat 
between Hindenburg and Luden- 
dorff. In the afternoon, flew to 
Warsaw. 

August 17, 1916 
Rode to Wilna. 

August 18, 1916 
Rode to Kovno and then to Berlin. 



179 



TO THE FORTIETH VICTORY 
(Fleet Battles) 



181 




Starting on His Last Ride 
October 28, 1916—5 p.m. 



TO THE FORTIETH VICTORY 
(Fleet Battles) 

Letter of September 4, 1916 
Dear Parents: 

To your surprise, you no doubt 
have read of my twentieth victory. 
You probably did not expect I would 
be doing much flying while arrang- 
ing my new division. 

A few days ago two new Fokkers 
arrived for me, and yesterday I 
made my first flight. At the front, 
the enemy was very active. They 
have grown quite rash. While I was 
enjoying a peaceful sail behind our 
lines, one came to attack me. I paid 
no attention to him (he was higher 
than I). A little later I saw bombs 
183 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

bursting near P. Here I found a 
B.-E. biplane, and with him three 
Vickers' one-man machines, evident- 
ly a scout with its protectors. I at- 
tacked the B.-E., but in the midst 
of my work the other three dis- 
turbed me so I had to run. One of 
them thought he could get me in 
spite of this, and followed me. A 
little apart from the rest, I offered 
battle, and soon I had him. I did 
not let him go; he had no more am- 
munition left. In descending, he 
swayed heavily from side to side. 
As he said later, this was involun- 
tary; I had crippled his machine. 
He came down northeast of Th. The 
aviator jumped out of his burning 
machine and beat about with hands 
and feet, for he was also afire. I 
184 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

went home to get fresli supplies of 
cartridges and start anew, for more 
Englishmen were coming. But I had 
no success. Yesterday I got the 
Englishman, whom I had captured, 
from the prisoners' camp and took 
him to the Casino for coffee. I 
showed him our aviation field and 
learned a lot of interesting things 
from him. My field is slowly near- 
ing completion and I am exceedingly 
busy. 

September 17, 1916 
In the meantime, I have made my 
total twenty-five. 

Number 21 I tackled single-han- 
ded. The fight with this Vickers bi- 
plane did not take very long. I at- 
tacked him at an angle from behind 
185 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

(the best; to get him from directly 
behind is not so good, since the mo- 
tor acts as a protection). In vain 
he tried to get out of this poor posi- 
tion; I did not give him the chance. 
I came so close to him that my ma- 
chine was smutted by the ensuing 
explosion of his 'plane. He fell, 
twisting like a boomerang. The ob- 
server fell out of the machine before 
it struck. 

Number 22 was quite bold; with 
his companions, he was sailing over 
our front, attacking our machines. 
This was too bad for him as well as 
one of his friends, who was shot 
down by two Eumplers. Number 22 
fell in exactly the same way as 21 
fell the day before, only he landed 
within his own lines. 
186 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Number 23 was a hard one. I had 
headed off the squadron he was with 
and picked the second one. He start- 
ed to get away. The third attacked 
Lieutenant R., and was soon en- 
gaged by Lieutenants B. and R., but, 
nevertheless, escaped within his own 
lines. My opponent pretended to 
fall after the first shots. I knew this 
trick, and followed him closely. He 
really was trying to escape to his 
own lines. He did not succeed. At 
M. he fell. His wings broke off and 
the machine broke into pieces. As 
he lies so far behind our front I did 
not get a chance to inspect the 
wreck. Once, however, I flew over 
it at a very low altitude. 

After a short while I saw several 
Englishmen circling over P. When 
187 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

I got nearer, they wanted to attack 
me. As I was lower, I paid no at- 
tention to them, but turned away. 
As they saw I would not fight, one 
of them attacked another German 
machine. I could not allow this to 
go on. I attacked him and he soon 
had to suffer for it. I shot up his 
gasoline and oil tanks and wounded 
him in the right thigh. He landed 
and was captured. That was Num- 
ber 24. 

Number 25 had to wait till the 
next day. A fleet of seven English- 
men passed over our field. Behind 
them I rose and cut off their retreat. 
At P. I got near them. I was the 
lower and, therefore, almost defense- 
less. This they took advantage of, 
and attacked me. Nerve! But I 
188 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

soon turned the tables and got my 
sights on one of them. I got nice 
and close to him, and let him have 
about 500 shots at forty meters. 
Then he had enough. Lieutenant 
von R. fired a few more shots at him, 
but he was finished without them. 
At H. he fell in a forest and was 
completely wrecked. 

Things are very lively here. 
The Englishmen always appear in 
swarms. I regret I did not have 
enough machines for all my men. 
Yesterday the first consignment ar- 
rived. The other half will come very 
soon. They shot down two English- 
men yesterday, and there wont be 
many Englishmen left in a little 
while. 

Yesterday, my officer for special 
189 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

service arrived; lie will relieve me 
of a lot of work. Nevertheless, my 
time is well occupied, even when not 
flying. There is a lot to do if one 
has to make a division out of prac- 
tically nothing. But it pleases me 
to see things gradually work out as 
I plan them. 



LATER 

In the meantime, things have 
changed considerably. Two of my 
men and I got into an English 
squadron and had a thorough house- 
cleaning. Each of us brought down 
an Englishman. We are getting 
along fine; since last night five Eng- 
lishmen. I shot down the leader, 
which I recognized by little flags on 
190 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

one of the planes. He landed at E. 
and set Ms machine afire. His ob- 
server was slightly wounded. When 
I arrived in an auto they had both 
been taken away. He had landed be- 
cause I had shot his engine to pieces. 

Letter of October 8, 1916 
Yesterday you read of Niunber 30, 
but even that is a back number. 
Number 31 has followed its prede- 
cessors. 

On September 17th came Number 
27. With some of my men I at- 
tacked a squadron of P.-E. biplanes 
on the way back from C Of these, 
we shot down six out of eight. Only 
two escaped. I picked out the leader, 
and shot up his engine so he had to 
land. It landed right near one of 
191 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

our kite-balloons. They were hardly- 
down when the whole airplane was 
ablaze. It seems they have some 
means of destroying their machine 
as soon as it lands. On September 
19th six of us got into an English 
squadron. Below us were the ma- 
chines with lattice-work tails, and 
above were some Morans, as protec- 
tion. One of these I picked out, and 
sailed after him. For a moment he 
escaped me, but west of B. I caught 
up with him. One machine gun 
jammed, but the other I used with 
telling effect. At short range, I fired 
at him till he fell in a big blaze. 
During all this, he handled him- 
self very clumsily. This was Nmn- 
ber 28. 
On September 27th I met seven 
192 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

English machines, near B. I had 
started on a patrol flight with four 
of my men, and we saw a squadron 
I first thought was German. When 
we met southwest of B., I saw they 
were enemy 'planes. We were lower 
and I changed my course. The Eng- 
lishmen passed us, flew over to us, 
flew around our kite-balloon and 
then set out for their own front. 
However, in the meantime, Ave had 
reached their height and cut off their 
retreat. I gave the signal to attack, 
and a general battle started. I at- 
tacked one; got too close; ducked 
under him and, turning, saw an Eng- 
lishman fall like a plummet. 

As there were enough others left 
I picked out a new one. He tried to 
escape, but I followed him. I fired 
193 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

round after round into him. His 
stamina surprised me. I felt he 
should have fallen long ago, but he 
kept going in the same circle. Fin- 
ally, it got too much for me. I knew 
he was dead long ago, and by some 
freak, or due to elastic controls, he 
did not change his course. I flew 
quite close to him and saw the pilot 
lying dead, half out of his seat. To 
know later which was the 'plane I 
had shot down (for eventually he 
must fall), I noted the number — 
7495. Then I left him and attacked 
the next one. He escaped, but I left 
my mark on him. As I passed close 
under him I saw a great hole I had 
made in his fuselage. He will prob- 
ably not forget this day. I had to 
work like a Trojan. 
194 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

Number 30 was very simple. I 
surprised a scout above our front 
— we call these scouts *'Haschen" 
(rabbits) — fired at him; lie tilted, 
and disappeared. 

The fall of Number 31 was a won- 
derful sight. We, five men and my- 
self, were amusing ourselves attack- 
ing every French or English machine 
we saw, and firing our guns to test 
them. This did not please our op- 
ponents at all. Suddenly, far be- 
low me, I saw one fellow circling 
about, and I went after him. At 
close range I fired at him, aiming 
steadily. He made things easy for 
me, flying a straight course. I stayed 
twenty or thirty meters behind him 
and pounded him till he exploded 
with a great yellow flare. We can- 
195 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

not call this a fight, because I sur- 
prised my opponent. 

Everything goes well with me; 
healthy, good food, good quarters, 
good companions, and plenty to do. 

October 19, 1916 
My flying has been quite success- 
ful in the last few days. 

On October 13th some of my men 
and I got into a fleet of Vickers ma- 
chines of about equal number. They 
did not care to fight, and tried to get 
away. We went after them. I at- 
tacked one, saw that Lieutenant K. 
was already after him, picked an- 
other, attacked him above P. and 
fired two volleys at him. I descend- 
ed about 400 meters doing this and 
196 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

had to let Mm go, because two others 
were after me, which I did not ap- 
preciate. He had to land at his ar- 
tillery positions, however. 

On the 15th of October, there was 
a lot to do. Lately, the English at- 
tack at two or three o'clock in the 
afternoon, because they have the no- 
tion that we are asleep. Just at this 
hour we went out. Between T. and 
S. we had a housecleaning ; that is, 
we attacked and chased every Eng- 
lishman we could find. I regret that 
during this only one fell (M. shot 
down his fourth) . Shortly after that 
I saw a scout amusing himself above 
the lines. I attacked and finished 
him first thing; I guess I must have 
killed the pilot instantly. The ma- 
chine crashed to earth so violently 
197 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

that it raised a huge cloud of dust. 
That was Number 33. 

On October 10th, in the afternoon, 
I got into a fleet of six Vickers' ma- 
chines. I had a fine time. The Eng- 
lish leader came just right for me, 
and I settled it after the first attack. 
With the pilot dead, it fell, and 
I watched till it struck, and then 
picked out another. My men were 
having a merry time with the other 
Englishmen. One Englishman fa- 
vored me by coming quite close to 
me, and I followed him close to the 
ground. Still, by skillful flying, he 
escaped. 

The day was a good one for my 
command. Lieutenant R. brought 
down his fifth, and Lieutenant S. got 
one, so that in all we got five that 
day. 198 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

On the 16th I got Number 35. Af- 
ter some fruitless flying I saw six 
Vickers over our lines. These I fol- 
lowed, with Lieutenant B. From 
command — there Avere also three ma- 
chines present. Lieutenant Leffers 
attacked one and forced him to 
earth (his eighth). The others were 
all grouped together in a bunch. I 
picked out the lowest and forced him 
to earth. The Englishmen did not 
try to help him, but let me have him, 
unmolested. After the second volley 
he caught fire and fell. 

It is peculiar that so many of my 
opponents catch fire. The others, in 
jest, say it is mental suggestion; 
they say all I need do is attack one 
of the enemy and he catches fire or, 
at least, loses a wing. 
199 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

The last few days we had poor 
weather. Nothing to do. 

THE LAST REPORTS 

OCTOBEK 20, 1916 

At 10 : 30 in the morning, five of 
my men and. I attacked a squadron 
of six F.-E. biplanes, coming from 
D. The machine I attacked fell in 
its own lines after first losing its ob- 
server. 

It is lying, a wreck, five hundred 
meters west of A. 

October 22, 1916 
11 : 45 — Several of my men and I 
headed off two enemy biplanes com- 
ing from the east. Both fell. The 
one I attacked was shot apart. 
200 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

October 22, 1916 
About 3 : 40 in the afternoon I saw 
an English machine attack two of 
our biplanes. I attacked immediate- 
ly, and forced him to land, although 
he tried to escape. 

Southwest of the forest at G-. he 
landed in a huge shell-hole and broke 
his machine. The pilot was thrown 
out. 

October 25, 1916 
This morning, near M., I brought 
down an English B.-E. biplane. 

October 26, 1916 
About 4 : 45 seven of our machines, 
of which I had charge, attacked 
some English biplanes west of P. 

I attacked one and wounded the 
observer, so he was unable to fire at 

201 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK j 

me. At the second attack the ma- i 
chine started to smoke. Both pilot i 
and observer seemed dead. It fell 
into the second line English trench.es ; 
and burned up. As I was attacked i 
by a Vickers machine after going : 
two or three hundred meters, I did 
not see this. According to the re- ; 
port of Group A., at A. o. K. 1., a i 
B.-E. machine, attacked by one of | 
our one-man machines, had fallen. \ 
This must have been mine. 



FROM THE LAST LETTER 

. . . Mother does not need to 

worry about me; things are not so 

terrible as she pictures them. She 

just needs to think of all the expe- 

202 



AN AVIATOR'S FIELD BOOK 

rience I have had at this work, not 
to mention our advantage in knowl- 
edge of how to fly and shoot. 



Telegram from the front.* 

''October 28, 1916, 7: 30 in the eve- 
ning. 

''Prepare parents: Oswald mor- 
tally injured to-day over German 
lines. Wilhelm/' 

* To his sister. 



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